m 


mmmmmmmmmmmm^mmmmmm 


tumnfmimmxA 


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A 


COMPANION 


TO  THE 


Revised  Old  Testament 


BY 

TALBOT   W.  "CHAMBERS 


FUNK    &   WAGNALLS 

NEW  YORK  1885  LONDON 

10  AND  12  Dey  Strekt  44  Fleet  Street 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1885,  by 

FUNK  &  WAGXALLS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  a 


PEEFACE, 


The  design  of  this  book  is  expressed  in  the  title. 
It  is  intended  to  furnish  a  convenient  manual  to 
those  readers  of  the  Revised  Old  Testament  who 
wish  to  inform  themselves  of  its  origin  and  aim,  and 
of  the  principles  upon  which  it  has  been  made. 

It  was  no  part  of  the  author's  purpose  to  defend 
or  advocate  the  work  of  the  revisers.  Even  if  such 
a  thing  were  required,  he  is  not  the  person  to  under- 
take it.  But  it  is  not  required.  A  revision  of  the 
English  Bible  for  popular  use  must  stand  or  fall  by 
its  own  merits,  and  no  efforts,  whether  of  friends  or 
foes,  can  prevent  this  result.  If  the  book  is  worthy 
— that  is,  if  it  accomplish  the  object  for  which  it  was 
undertaken,  no  amount  of  opposition  can  overthrow 
it.  However  learned  or  skilful  or  acute  its  assailants 
may  be,  they  will  only  beat  the  air.  The  Christian 
public  will  slowly  but  surely  find  out  the  truth,  and 
act  accordingly.  They  will  accept  and  adopt  that 
form  of  the  Bible  which  best  answers  the  purposes 
for  which  the  Bible  was  given.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  work  is  a  failure,  if  it  is  no  advance  upon 
its  predecessor,  if  its  gains  in  one  direction  are  out- 
weighed by  shortcomings  in  another,  it  will  pass  into 


VI  PREFACE. 

cumstance  will  keep  the  book  from  being  overlooked 
or  forgotten.  It  cannot  possibly  be  shelved.  If 
therefore  the  book  be  v^hat  it  is  claimed  to  be,  it  will 
gradually  work  its  way  to  general  acceptance,  just  as 
its  predecessor  did  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeeth 
century.  That  book  at  first  was  received  with  cold 
indifference  by  some  and  with  violent  opposition  by 
others,  yet  it  survived  both.  Although  universally 
known  as  ^'  the  Authorized  Version,"  no  trace  of 
such  authorization  has  ever  been  found  in  any  records 
of  the  time,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical.  I^either 
the  crown  nor  Parliament  nor  the  privy  council  nor 
the  convocation  appear  to  have  given  it  any  public 
sanction.  Yet  without  the  aid  of  legal  enactments, 
and  entirely  upon  its  own  merits,  it  quietly  supersed- 
ed all  its  jDredecessors  and  rivals.  It  is  therefore  not 
unreasonable  to  expect  that  the  present  revision  will 
in  time  noiselessly  accomplish  the  same  result,  and 
at  length  come  to  be  generally  recognized  as  the 
Bible  of  English-speaking  peoples. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  verdict  of  the  people 
is  forming,  there  is  need  of  such  works  as  the  pres- 
ent. For  it  is  a  fact  that,  notwithstanding  all  that 
has  been  said  on  the  subject  during  the  last  ten  or 
fifteen  years,  there  are  multitudes  of  persons,  well- 
informed  in  other  respects,  who  do  not  know  why 
the  revision  has  been  attempted,  or  how  it  has  been 
carried  on,  or  what  it  was  expected  to  accomplish. 
There  are  others  who,  while  aware  of  the  leading 
facts  in  the  case,  yet  would  be  embarrassed  in  judg- 
ing particular  instances.     An  example  may  be  taken 


PREFACE.  "fll 

from  the  experience  of  the  Revised  New  Testament. 
Soon  after  that  volume  appeared,  two  clergymen 
took  it  lip  from  a  bookseller's  table,  and  casually 
opened  it  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
Mark.  Here  they  observed  that  the  43d  verse  spoke 
of  the  hody  of  Jesus,  while  the  45th  called  it  the 
corjpse,  the  Authorized  Yersion  having  hody  in  both 
places.  Desirous  to  see  the  reason  of  the  change, 
they  turned  to  the  nearest  Greek  Testament,  where 
they  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  original  had  the 
same  word  in  both  verses.  The  case  then  seemed 
inexplicable,  and  was  so  until  one  of  the  two  con- 
sulted a  critical  edition,  where  it  appeared  that  the 
correct  text  had  one  word  {soina)  in  the  43d  verse 
and  another  {ptdma)  in  the  45th.  Consequently 
the  revision  reproduced  exactly  the  form  as  well  as 
the  meaning  of  the  original. 

It  is  with  the  design  of  meeting  cases  like  tliis 
that  the  present  volume  has  been  prepared — not  in- 
deed by  any  means  with  the  view  of  explaining  all 
the  points  wherein  alteration  has  been  made,  but 
simply  to  state  the  circumstances  that  led  to  the  work, 
and  the  means  and  method  used  to  accomplish  it. 
After  a  brief  statement  concerning  the  text  of  the 
Old  Testament,  a  series  of  chapters  takes  up  instances 
of  the  various  changes  made,  and  suggests  in  a  short 
and  general  way  the  reasons  for  these  changes.  This 
is  only  a  selection  of  passages,  and  possibly  not  the 
most  judicious  that  could  have  been  made.  Yet 
these  examples,  however  ill-chosen,  will  doubtless 
illustrate  all  or  nearly  all  the   principles  involved, 


VIU  PREFACE. 

and  represent  witli  sufficient  accuracy  tlie  general 
character  of  the  book.  Of  course  in  a  work  no 
larger  than  this  there  cannot  be  anything  like  a 
complete  statement  of  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
committee  acted  ;  often  only  a  hint  is  given.  But 
it  is  supposed  that  persons  who  have  no  acquaintance 
with  the  original  languages  of  Scripture  would  be 
glad  to  learn,  in  a  general  way,  the  objects  of  the 
revisers  and  their  method  of  reaching  them.  The 
book  is  not  written  for  scholars,  to  whom  it  would 
be  of  little  or  no  use,  but  for  ordinary  English  read- 
ers, who  may  find  even  such  light  as  is  given  in  these 
pages  helpful  in  enabling  them  to  form  a  candid 
judgment  of  the  merits  of  the  revision.  This  ques- 
tion is  not  one  of  theoretical  importance  merely,  but 
touches  vital  issues.  The  Word  of  God  is  the  great 
means  for  the  building  up  of  the  religious  character 
and  life.  The  sacred  writings  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  expressly  declared  by  the  Apostle  Paul  (II.  Tim. 
iii.  16,  17)  to  be  "profitable  for  teaching,  for  re- 
proof, for  correction,  for  instruction  which  is  in 
righteousness  :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  com- 
plete, furnished  completely  to  eveiy  good  work." 
It  is  therefore  not  only  the  privilege  but  the  duty  of 
every  man  to  become  as  fully  acquainted  as  possible 
with  these  writings  in  their  exact  sense  and  meaning. 
He  is  not  at  liberty  to  indulge  likes  and  dislikes  in 
a  matter  of  this  kind.  It  is  not  the  revision  that 
most  pleases  aesthetic  taste,  or  which  is  most  fluent 
and  rhythmical,  or  which  has  about  it  the  richest 
archaic  flavor  that  he  is  to  choose,  but  that  one  wliich 


PREFACE.  IX 

he  has  i-eason  to  think  best  conveys  the  meaning  of 
its  divine  author. 

The  author  of  this  book  having  been  a  member  of 
the  American  Old  Testament  Company  for  the  last 
ten  years  can  speak  with  some  degree  of  authority 
on  the  subjects  here  treated.  But  it  is  to  be  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  he  alone  is  responsible  for 
what  is  said.  His  colleagues  in  the  company  ap- 
proved of  his  undertaking,  and  all  have  kindly  lent 
him  more  or  less  assistance  in  prosecuting  it ;  but 
whatever  errors  or  shortcomings  may  be  found  are  to 
be  attributed  only  to  himself.  It  may  not  be  amiss 
to  make  a  remark  concerning  the  interior  workings 
of  this  branch  of  the  Committee.  The  writer  was 
the  only  pastor  in  the  company.  All  the  others 
were  professors  in  theological  seminaries,  and  they 
represented  seven  different  denominations  and  nine 
different  institutions.  The  meetings  were  held 
monthly,  save  in  midsummer,  and  extended  over  two 
and  sometimes  three  days.  The  discussions  were 
earnest  and  animated,  and  there  was  the  freest  ex- 
pression of  opinion.  Yet  never  even  once  did  the 
odium  theologicum  appear.  Nothing  was  said  at  any 
time  that  required  retraction  or  apology.  And  so 
far  from  there  being  any  clashing  among  those  con- 
nected with  institutions  which  are  in  a  sense  rival 
competitors  for  public  favor,  courtesy,  kindness, 
and  the  heartiest  Christian  fellowship  prevailed  from 
beginning  to  end.  Whatever  becomes  of  the  re- 
vision, each  of  those  who  took  part  in  it  on  this  side 


X  PREFACE. 

of  tlie  water  feels  Immble  gratitude  to  God  for  the 
blessed  communion  of  devout  scholars  into  which  it 
introduced  liim,  and  the  nianj,  many  happy  days 
that  were  S23ent  in  accomplishing  it.  Each  of  them 
can  adopt  for  himself  the  words  in  which  the  good 
Bishop  Home,  a  century  ago,  spoke  of  his  labors  upon 
the  psalms  :  "  Happier  hours  than  those  which  have 
been  spent  in  these  meditations  he  never  expects  to 
see  in  this  world.  Very  pleasantly  did  they  pass, 
and  moved  smoothly  and  swiftly  along  ;  for  when 
thus  engaged,  he  counted  no  time.  They  are  gone, 
but  have  left  a  relish  and  a  fragrance  upon  the  mind, 
and  the  remembrance  of  them  is  sweet." 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

The  Need  of  a  Revision 13 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Method  of  the  Revision 37 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Text  of  the  Old  Testament 61 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Changes  in  the  Pentateuch 78 

CHAPTER  V. 
Changes  in  the  Histoeic.^x  Books 97 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Changes  in  the  PoETicAii  Books 110 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Changes  in  the  Prophetical  Books 135 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Ameeican  Appendix 168 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Importance  of  the  Old  Testament , 217 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Names  oe  the  Re^tisees,  British  and  American 245 


OLD  TESTAMENT  EEVISIOI^f, 


CHAPTEE  I. 

THE   NEED    OF   A   REVISION. 

No  testimony  to  the  inexhaustible  interest  of  the 
Bible  is  more  striking  than  that  which  is  furnished 
bj  the  prevalent  desire  and  effort  to  secure  better 
versions  of  its  contents  in  modern  tongues.  The 
book  is  continually  attacked  by  all  sorts  of  foes  and 
upon  all  sorts  of  grounds,  and  not  infrequently  is 
contemptuously  shelved  as  if  its  claims  had  been 
utterly  exploded.  And  yet  in  no  less  than  seven 
countries  of  Europe  serious  endeavors  are,  or  recently 
have  been,  made  to  amend  the  popular  versions  of 
the  Scriptures. 

In  Holland  a  revised  translation  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament was  issued  in  1868  by  direction  of  the  Gen- 
eral  Synod,  a  large  company  of  scholars  having  been 
engaged  on  the  work  since  the  date  of  their  appoint- 
ment in  1854.  In  Denmark  the  New  Testament 
having  been  revised  in  the  year  1819,  the  revision  of 
the  Old  was  undertaken  by  such  scholars  as  Xolkar 
and  Rothe,  with  whom  Bishop  Martensen  acted  as 


14  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

an  adviser,  and  the  resnlt  of  their  labors  appeared  in 
1871.  In  Norway  a  laborious  revision  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  nov7  in  progress,  and  is  understood  to 
hav^e  reached  completion  save  as  to  the  prophetical 
books.  In  Sweden  the  work  has  been  in  hand  for 
a  century.  Last  May  the  Kew  Testament  was  issued. 
Its  authors  accepted  no  variation  from  the  Textus 
Keceptus,  unless  it  was  sustained  by  at  least  two  of 
the  most  ancient  authorities.  The  use  of  this  re- 
vision is  allowed  in  the  schools,  but  not  yet  in  the 
churches.  It  has  met  with  considerable  opposition 
from  some  Swedish  scholars  because  of  its  too  close 
adherence  to  the  Eeceived  Text.*  The  Bible  in 
common  use  in  France  is  that  knoM'n  as  Ostervald's 
(issued  in  Amsterdam  in  1Y24),  wdiich  was  based 
upon  that  issued  in  1588  by  certain  Geneva  pastors, 
among  whom  was  Beza,  which  itself  was  a  revision 
of  the  translation  made  by  Olivetan  in  1535,  and 
corrected  by  Calvin,  his  cousin.  A  revision  of 
Ostervald's  version  was  completed  by  M.  Frossard 
in  1869,  and  w^as  approved  by  a  conference  of 
pastors  in  Paris,  who  recommended  the  Societe  Bi- 
hliqite  cle  France  to  publish  it.  In  1868  a  revision 
of  the  Old  Testament  was  undertaken  by  a  commit- 
tee of  four,  afterward  increased  to  thirteen,  who 
completed  their  work  and  gave  it  to  the  press  in  1879. 
It  is  understood  that  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  and  likewise  the  American  Bible  Society, 

*  For  this  authentic  information  in  respect  to  Scandinavian 
conntries,  the  author  is  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Prof.  G.  E.  Day, 
D.D.,  who  visited  Denmark  and  Sweden  last  year. 


THE   NEED   OP   A    REVISION.  15 

have  adopted  this  revision  of  both  Testaments  as 
the  French  Bible  which  they  will  circulate.  In 
ISTtt  the  Eev.  Dr.  Louis  Segond  publislied  at  Ge- 
neva a  new  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  (2d  ed., 
1877,  at  Nancy  ;  3d  ed.,  1879,  at  Geneva),  and  1879 
a  new  translation  of  the  New  Testament.  His  work 
has  been  accepted  by  the  University  Press,  Oxford, 
and  has  met  with  great  favor  from  professors  and 
other  scholars  in  Switzerland.  In  Germany  a  com- 
pany of  learned  men  have  been  for  years  engaged  in 
a  revision  of  Luther's  version.  Tentative  copies 
(Probe-Bibel)  of  their  work  have  been  widely  circu- 
lated with  the  view  of  eliciting  criticism  before  a  final 
determination.  The  auspices  under  which  the  enter- 
prise has  been  carried  on  are  such  as  to  give  good 
hope  of  success.  It  is  understood  that  attention  has 
been  paid  rather  to  the  matter  of  improving  and  mod- 
ernizing the  language  used  than  to  the  making  of  a 
new  version.  But  even  in  this  latter  point  of  view 
the  work  is  a  significant  indication  of  the  general 
movement  in  Christian  lands  in  favor  of  making  the 
vernacular  version  of  the  Scriptures  an  adequate  rep- 
resentation of  the  original,  or  at  least  such  as  to  put 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  in  possession  of  the 
mind  and  will  of  God  as  revealed  for  human  salva- 
tion. As  for  Britain  and  America,  the  present  year 
will  see  the  conclusion  of  a  work  of  revision  carried 
on  ever  since  1870. 

It  remains  for  those  who  condemn  the  Bible 
as  obsolete  or  effete  to  explain  the  reason  of  this 
earnest  and  widespread  interest  in   the   matter   oi 


16  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION. 

securing  a  faithful  rendering  of  its  words  into  tlie 
living  languages  of  our  day.  No  such  explanation 
is  possible,  and  the  facts  must  be  taken  as  evidence 
that  the  system  of  religion  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
so  far  from  having  relaxed  its  hold  upon  tlie  reason, 
the  conscience,  and  the  heart  of  men,  has  increased 
its  power.  Among  English-speaking  peoples  these 
facts  are  strengthened  by  the  amazing  sales  made  of 
the  Revised  New  Testament  issued  in  England  and 
America  in  May,  ISSl.  The  demand  for  the  book 
was  something  wholly  unprecedented  in  the  entire 
history  of  the  trade.  A  deeper  feeling  than  mere 
curiosity  is  recpired  to  account  for  this  fact. 

In  setting  forth  the  grounds  upon  which  the  work 
of  revision  in  England  was  commenced  and  carried 
on,  it  is  requisite  to  set  aside  some  mistaken  appre- 
hensions on  the  subject.  No  disparagement  of  the 
general  merits  of  the  Authorized  Version  was  in- 
tended. That  version  is  one  of  very  great  excellence. 
It  is  better  than  any  of  the  ancient  versions,  and  is 
surpassed  by  only  one  of  the  modern — the  Staaten- 
Byhel  of  Holland.  The  reason  of  the  latter's  superi- 
ority is  that  it  was  made  a  score  of  years  after  King 
James's  translators  had  finished  their  labors,  and  of 
course  had  the  benefit  of  their  experience.  The 
friends  and  advocates  of  the  Revision  can  in  all  good 
conscience  join  in  circulating  the  common  English 
Bible,  while  yet  they  think  it  capable  of  improve- 
ment. Nor  is  it  true,  as  has  sometimes  been  said, 
that  these  parties  are  insensible  to  the  charms  of  the 
old  Bible  as  ''  a  well  of  English  undefyled,"  and 


THE   NEED   OF   A    REVISION".  17 

have  no  regard  for  its  exquisite  rhytlim  and  melody. 
Tliey  feel  these  things  as  much  as  anybody,  and  if 
the  Scriptures  were  simpjy  a  great  English  classic, 
they  would  as  soon  think  of  amending  Chaucer  or 
ShakesjDeare  as  of  touching  the  book  which  is  such  a 
noble  expression  of  our  language  in  its  best  estate. 
But  the  literary  claims  of  the  Bible  are  and  must  be 
subordinate  to  its  character  as  a  record  of  the  revela- 
tion which  God  has  been  pleased  to  make  of  Himself. 
Taste  must  yield  to  conscience.  Every  reader  is 
entitled  to  the  most  exact  and  faithful  expression  of 
the  divine  word  that  is  attainable.  An  incorrect  or 
inadequate  version  is  poorly  compensated  by  grace  of 
utterance.  Pure  water  out  of  an  earthen  vessel  is 
better  than  water  not  so  pure  out  of  a  golden  cup 
rimmed  with  jewels.  Nor  is  it  love  of  change  for 
its  own  sake  that  induced  the  j)lan  of  revision.  Of 
course  there  may  be  among  the  friends  of  that  plan 
some  justly  liable  to  this  charge,  but  if  so,  these  are 
exceptions.  The  revisers  have  felt  the  power  of  old 
association  in  endearing  to  them  the  common  ver- 
sion with  all  its  shortcomings,  and  they  therefore  put 
their  hands  to  any  alteration  with  great  reluctance, 
and  only  under  an  imperative  sense  of  duty.  Faith- 
fulness is  the  first  law  of  translation,  and  no  ques- 
tions, whether  of  taste,  or  of  long  use,  or  of  sacred 
memories,  can  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a 
correct  representation  of  ''  the  mind  of  the  Spirit," 
as  recorded  in  the  Scriptures.  But  of  course  so 
long  as  substantial  correctness  is  secured  minor  in- 
felicities or  inadequate  renderings  may  be  left  un- 


18  OLD  TESTAMENT   REVISIOl^'. 

touched.  And  this  has  been  the  constant  aim  of  the 
revisers — viz.,  not  to  make  a  new  version,  but  to 
revise  the  oki  one  where  such  revision  was  called  for. 
How  far  they  have  accomplished  their  aim  it  is  not 
for  them  to  saj.  But  it  is  their  right  to  insist  upon 
the  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  their  endeavors  in 
this  direction. 

The  reasons  for  the  work  may  be  assigned  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  The  Progress  of  tlie  Language. — Dead  lan- 
guages do  not  change,  and  it  is  their  fixed  and  invari- 
able character  which  renders  the  study  of  them  such 
a  valuable  aid  in  sharpening  and  disciplining  the 
faculties.  But  living  languages  are  always  subject 
to  change  with  the  changes  in  the  numbers,  manners, 
laws,  institutions,  and  social  develoj^ment  of  the 
peoples  who  speak  them.  All  that  a  reasonable  con- 
servative can  ask  is  that  variations  shall  not  be  vio- 
lent, or  precipitate,  or  against  analogy,  or  in  general 
for  the  worse.  In  this  respect  the  Authorized  Version 
has  been  a  great  blessing  as  a  standard  of  speech. 
Its  intrinsic  excellence  as  well  as  its  sacred  origin 
gave  it  an  acceptance  among  the  people  such  as  no 
other  book  ever  secured.  Hence  it  brought  all 
classes  of  men  into  familiar  acquaintance  with  its 
idioms  and  its  vocabulary,  and  so  proved  a  constant 
breakwater  against  rash  and  needless  innovations. 
Still,  while  this  is  true  and  gratefully  acknowledged 
by  every  lover  of  his  mother  tongue,  it  is  also  true 
that  the  end  was  not  perfectly  gained.  There  are 
some  grammatical  forms  which  have  become  wholly 


THE   NEED  OF   A    REVISION". 


11> 


antiquated,  and  there  is  a  considerable  number  of 
words  wliicli  are  now  obsolete  and  therefore  unintel- 
ligible to  the  great  body  of  readers.  Other  words 
have  undergone  an  entire  change  of  meaning  so  as 
seriously  to  mislead  the  unlearned.  There  are  more 
of  these  than  persons  who  have  not  had  their  atten- 
tion called  to  the  subject  are  apt  to  suppose.  Some 
specimens  are  here  given,  all  taken  from  the  Old 
Testament. 


Ancient,  (Is.  xlvii.  6), 
Artillery,  (I.  Sam.  xx.  40), 
Assay,  (Deut.  iv.  34), 

Bakemeats,  (Gen.  xl.  17), 
Besom,  (Is.  xiv.  32), 
Bewray,  (Is.  xvi.  3), 
Bonnet,  (Ex.  xxviii.  40), 
Boss,  (Job  XV.  26), 
Botch,  (Deut.  xxviii.  27), 
Bravery,  (Is.  iii.  18), 
Brigandine,  (Jer.  xlvi.  4), 
Bunches,  (Is.  xxx.  6), 

Cabins,  (Jer.  xxxvii.  18), 
Cankerworm,  (Ps.  cv.  34), 
Carriage,  (Judges  xviii.  21). 
Champaign,  (Deut.  xi.30), 
Chapiter,  (Ex.  xxxvi.  38), 
Chapman,  (I.  Kings  x.  15), 
Charger,  (Num.  vii.  13), 
Coast,  (Ex.  X.  4), 
Comely,  (Ps.  xxxiii.  1), 
Cracknel,  (I.  Kings  xiv.  3), 
Conversation,  (Ps.  xxxvii. 
Cunning,  (Gen.  xxv.  27), 


Elder  or  aged. 
Missile  weapons. 
Attempt,  try. 

Some  kind  of  bread. 

Broom. 

Betray. 

Mitre. 

Knob. 

Boil. 

Splendor,  finery. 

Scale  armor. 

Humps  (of  camels). . 

Cellars,  vaults. 
Caterpillar. 


14), 


Plain. 
Capital, 
Trader. 
Platter. 
Border. 
Becoming. 
Cake. 

Manner  of  life.     - 
Knowing,  skilful  (not  implying 
artifice). 


20 


OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION. 


Daysman,  (Job  ix.  33), 
Despite,  (Ezek.  xxv.  6), 
Discipline,  (Job  xxxvi.  10), 
Discover,  (Ps.  xxix.  9), 

Ear,  (Deut.  xxi.  4), 
Ensue,  (Ps.  xxxiv.  14), 
Entreat,  (Gen.  xii.  16), 
Eschew,  (Job  i.  1,  8), 

Fats,  (Joel  ii.  24), 
Fenced,  (Num.  xxxii.  17), 
Fine,  (Job  xxviii.  1), 
Flag,  (Ex.  ii.  3,  5), 
Fray,  (Deut.  xxviii.  26), 
Fretting,  (Lev.  xiv.  44), 

Gallant,  (Is.  xxxiii.  21), 
Goodman,  (Prov.  vii.  19), 
Gracious,  (Prov.  xi.  16), 

Habergeon,  (Ex.  xxviii.  32), 

Harness,  (I.  Kings  xxii.  34), 
Handywork,  (Ps.  xix.  1), 

Knop,  (Ex.  xxv.  31), 

Kerchief,  (Ezek.  xiii.  18,  21), 

Lace,  (Ex.  xxviii,  28), 
Leasing,  (Ps.  iv.  2), 
Let,  (Ex.  V.  4), 
Lover,  (Ps.  xxxviii.  11), 

Man  of  war,  (Ex.  xv.  3), 
Manner,  with  the,  (Num.  v.  13), 
Mean,  (Is.  ii.  9), 
Meat,  (Gen.  i.  29,  30), 
Minish,  (Ex.  v.  19), 
Mount,  (Jer.  vi.  6), 


Umpire  or  arbiter. 
Eeproachf  111  contempt. 
Instruction. 
Uncover  or  lay  bare. 

Plough. 

Follow  after  and  overtake. 

Treat. 

Flee  from,  avoid. 

Vats. 

Fortified,  defended. 

Eefine. 

Eeed-grass. 

Frighten. 

Devouring,  corroding. 

Splendid,  stately. 
Master  of  the  house. 
Filled  with  grace. 

Coat  of  mail  for  the  head  and 

shoulders. 
Armor. 
Workmanship. 

Bud  or  bud-shaped  protuber- 
ance. 
Covering  for  the  head. 

Band. 

Lying,  falsehood. 
Hinder. 

Intimate  friend,  not  necessarily 
of  the  ojDposite  sex. 

"Warrior. 

In  the  act. 

Common,  lowly  (not  base). 

Food  in  general. 

Diminish. 

Mound. 


THE   KEED    OF   A    REVISIO^^ 


21 


Neesing,  (Job  xli.  18), 
Nephews,  (Judges  xii.  14), 
Noisome,  (Ps,  xci.  3), 

Occupy,  (Ez.  xxvii.  16), 
Ointment,  (Cant.  i.  3), 
Offend,  (Ps.  cxix.  165), 
Ouches,"-'  (Ex.  xxviii,  11), 


Sneezing, 

Grandchildren. 

Hurtful. 

Use,  trade  with,  trade. 
Unguent,  perfume. 
Make  to  stumble. 
Sockets    for    setting    precious 
stones. 


Paddle,  (Deut.  xxiii.  13), 

Small  spade. 

Palestina,  (Ex.  xv.  14), 

Philistia. 

Painful,  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  16), 

Toilsome. 

Poll,  (Num.  i.  2), 

Head. 

Prevent,  (Ps.  xviii.  5), 

Meet,  anticipate. 

Purtenance,  (Ex.  xii.  9), 

Intestines  or  inwards. 

Quick,  (Lev.  xiii.  10), 

Living. 

Eereward,  (I.  Sam.  xxix.  2), 

Eearguard, 

Road,  (I.  Sam.  xxvii.  10), 

Eaid. 

Saving  health,  (Ps.  Ixvii.  2), 

Salvation. 

Scall,  (Lev.  xiii.  30), 

Eruption  of  the  skin,  tetter. 

Scrabble,  (I.  Sam.  xxi.  13), 

Scrawl. 

Scrip,  (I.  Sam.  xvii.  40), 

Wallet  or  small  bag. 

Seethe,  (Ex.  xvi.  23), 

Boil, 

Several,  (II.  Kings  xv.  5), 

Separate, 

Sherd,  (Is.  xxx.  14), 

Shred  or  fragment. 

Shroud,  (Ezek.  xxxi.  3), 

Cover,  shelter. 

Silverling,  (Is.  vii.  23), 

Piece  of  silver. 

Slime,  (Gen.  xi.  3), 

Bitumen, 

Stay  upon,  (Is,  x.  20), 

Lean  upon. 

Spoil,  (Gen.  xxxiv.  27), 

Plunder. 

Straitly,  (Gen.  xliii.  7), 

Strictly. 

*  This  word  is  retained  iu  the  Revision,  doubtless  because  socket  was  used 
to  denote  the  openings  made  in  the  silver  bases  or  pediments  in  which  were 
inserted  the  two  tenons  of  each  of  the  boards  used  to  make  the  sides  and  end 
of  the  Tent  of  Meeting.  It  seemed  belter  to  preserve  an  obsolete  word  thaa 
to  use  the  same  term  to  denote  the  se' ting  of  a  precious  gem  and  the  recep- 
tacle of  a  board  ten  cubits  hish. 


22  OLD  TESTAMENT   EEVISIOI^-. 


Tabernacle,  (Num.  xxiv.  5), 

Tent. 

Table,  (Is.  xxx.  8), 

Tablet. 

Tablet,  (Ex.  xxxv.  22), 

Armlet,  locket. 

Tache,  (Ex.  xxvi.  6), 

Clasp. 

Thought,  (I.  Sam.  ix.  5), 

Anxiety. 

Tired,  (II.  Kings  ix.  30), 

Attired. 

Turtle,  (Cant.  ii.  12), 

Turtle-dove. 

Undersetters,  (I.  Kings  vii.  30), 

Props. 

Vagabond,  (Gen.  iv.  12), 

Wanderer. 

Vex,  (Ex.  xxii.  21), 

Harass,  oppress. 

Wench,  (II.  Sam.  xvii.  17), 

Maidservant. 

Well,  (Cant.  iv.  15), 

Spring. 

Wimple,  (Is.  iii.  22), 

Neck-covering,  shawl, 

Witty,  (Prov.  viii.  12), 

Ingenious,  clever. 

2.  Infelicities  in  the  Form  of  the  Comonon  Ver- 
sion.— The  most  obvious  of  these  is  the  division  of 
the  whole  book  into  chapters  and  verses.  While  this 
is  a  great  convenience  for  the  purposes  of  a  concord- 
ance, enabling  one  to  turn  in  a  moment  to  any  de- 
sired passage,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  conven- 
ience is  dearly  bought.  The  chapter  division  is  not 
always  made  with  proper  regard  to  the  connection, 
frequently  uniting  v^^hat  ought  to  be  separated  and 
separating  what  ought  to  be  united.  The  first  chap- 
ter of  Genesis  should  have  included  the  first  three 
verses  of  the  second  chapter,  which  evidently  belong 
to  the  general  account  of  the  creation,  as  distinguished 
by  the  phrase,  "  These  are  the  generations  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth, ' '  from  the  following  narrative 
of  man's  trial  in  Eden.  In  Isaiah  no  one  doubts  that 
the  extraordinary  prediction  of  the  servant  of  the 


THE   IsEED   OF   A   REVISIOi^-.  23 

Lord  as  a  vicarious  sufferer  contained  in  the  well- 
known  53d  chapter  really  begins  at  the  thirteenth 
verse  of  the  5 2d,  and  the  rude  dislocation  is  a 
serious  injury  to  the  sense.  The  third  chapter  of 
the  same  prophet  should  have  included  the  first 
verse  of  the  one  tliat  follows  as  completing  the  pict- 
ure of  Judea's  distress,  after  which  a  new  strain 
begins.  So  in  the  Book  of  Job  the  close  of  Chap- 
ter xxxvi.  announces  a  storm  the  further  prog- 
ress of  which  is  given  in  the  next  chapter,  and 
the  needless  division  makes  a  disturbing  break  in 
the  midst  of  a  sublime  and  thrilling  description. 
The  versicular  division  is  still  more  annoying.  It 
turns  the  Scripture  into  what  looks  like  a  book  of 
apothegms.  It  forms  or  at  least  fosters  the  habit 
in  the  unlearned,  and  sometimes  even  in  others,  of 
taking  a  single  clause  apart  from  its  connection  and 
thus  attaching  to  it  an  unjustifiable  sense.  It  leads 
the  ignorant  to  think  that  this  is  an  essential  part  of 
the  literary  form  of  the  original,  and  not  a  mere 
printer's  device.  The  degree  to  which  itahc  letters 
are  used  is  unfortunate  and  misleading.  They  are 
intended  to  mark  such  words  as  are  supplied  by  the 
translators,  but  oftentimes  they  are  inserted  need- 
lessly, as,  for  example,  in  the  use  of  the  copula  where 
this,  although  not  expressed  in  the  original,  is  con- 
fessedly implied  in  it.  Thus  in  the  first,  second, 
and  fourth  verses  of  the  first  Psalm  the  italic  letters 
are  wholly  superfiiious.  So,  again,  poetry  and  prose 
are  printed  in  one  uniform  way.  This  is  unfortu- 
nate, not  only  in  that  many  readers  fail  to  see  that 


24  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION'. 

the  Scriptures  are  in  part  poetical,  but  also  in  that 
tlie  parallelisms,  which  are  so  important  a  part  of 
Hebrew  verse  and  which  often  do  so  much  to  fa- 
cilitate the  understanding  of  difficult  passages,  are 
greatly  obscured.  It  is  true  that  there  are  not  un- 
frequentlj  divided  opinions  as  to  the  precise  deter- 
mination of  hemistichs,  but  even  an  unhappy  metrical 
division  is  better  than  none  at  all,  for  the  reader, 
having  his  attention  called  to  the  subject,  may  of 
himself  make  the  necessary  correction.  An  eminent 
scholar  of  our  own  country  once  objected  to  the 
metrical  arrangement  on  the  ground  that  it  led  the 
reader  to  expect  rhyme  and  rhythm,  and  not  finding 
these,  he  was  disappointed  and  confused.  But  this 
would  be  only  a  temporary  embarrassment,  vrhile  the 
gain  from  a  knowledge  of  the  parallelism  is  real  and 
permanent. 

3.  The  Progress  of  Sacred  Learning. — The  men 
who  made  the  Authorized  Version  were  beyond  doubt 
learned  men,  quite  abreast  of  their  time  and  fully 
equal  to  any  scholars  in  Europe.  But  having  their 
work  as  a  basis,  their  successors,  though  inferior, 
may  yet  improve  it,  just  as,  according  to  the  old  say- 
ing, a  dwarf  perched  upon  the  shoulders  of  a  giant 
sees  further  than  the  giant.  But  apart  from  this 
consideration,  real  advances  have  been  made  in  every 
department  of  Biblical  Literature  during  the  last  two 
centuries  and  a  half.  Helps  of  all  kinds  have  been 
multiplied  in  an  astonishing  degree.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, the  matter  of  versions.  King  James's  trans- 
lators had  only  a  single  text  of  the  Septuagint,  the 


THE   NEED   OF   A    REVISION".  25 

earliest  and  most  valuable  of  tlie  ancient  transla- 
tions, and  that  an  imperfect  one,  whereas  the  mod- 
ern scholar  has  also  that  of  the  Alexandrian  MS. 
in  tlie  British  Museum,  and  that  of  the  Sinaitic 
discovered  by  Tischendorf,  and  these  aided  by  the 
critical  labors  of  a  number  of  eminent  scholars.  The 
fra£2:ments  remainino:  of  other  Greek  versions,  made 
by  individuals  (Aquila,  Theodotion,  Symmachus,  and 
others),  have  also  been  brought  forth  and  put  at 
the  service  of  students  since  1611.  J^ext  in  im- 
portance after  the  Greek  comes  the  Latin  version. 
Here,  too,  the  superiority  of  the  later  period  is  ob- 
vious. The  earlier  scholars  had  only  the  ordinary 
edition  of  the  Yulgate,  disfigured  by  many  changes 
and  corruptions,  which  had  in  the  course  of  time 
crept  in,  whereas  now  access  is  easy  to  the  Codex 
Amiatinus  (a.d.  511),  which  represents  Jerome's 
final  and  matured  judgment.  The  next  most  impor- 
tant early  version,  the  Syriac,  was  unknown  to  the 
authors  of  the  common  Bible,  for  it  was  not  printed 
until  the  Paris  Polyglot  of  Le  Jay,  in  1615.  This 
Peshitto  Codex  is  of  great  value,  as  being  made  in  a 
cognate  dialect  and  with  marked  fidelity.  In  like 
manner  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  the  later  Syriac 
versions,  the  Ethiopic,  the  Persian  and  the  Gothic, 
were  not  published  until  years  after  the  appearance 
of  the  issue  of  the  English  Bible  of  1611,  and  could 
therefore  have  rendered  no  aid  to  its  authors. 

The  same  thing  may  be  said  as  to  philological 
helps.  The  larger  Hebrew  grammar  of  Buxtorf  ap- 
peared in  1609  ;  but  though  its  merits  were  great  for 


26  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

its  day,  it  bears  no  comparison  witli  the  elaborate 
treatises  of  this  century  in  point  of  fulness,  acute- 
ness,  and  accuracy.  Gesenius  and  Ewald  and  their 
successors  have  wrought  a  complete  revolution  in  the 
treatment  of  the  forms  and  accidence  of  the  lan- 
guage. This  is  true  also  of  the  lexicons.  Buxtorf 's 
was  at  command  in  1611,  giving  students  the  help  to 
be  derived  from  the  Rabbins  and  the  Yulgate.  But 
the  great  development  of  comparative  pliilology 
took  place  afterward.  The  eminent  scholars  who 
made  Walton's  Polyglot  did  not  come  forward  till 
the  following  generation,  and  it  was  in  the  next  cen- 
tury that  Schultens  brought  out  the  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  seeking  the  roots  of  Hebrew  in  the 
Arabic.  The  success  of  the  great  HoUandish  scholar 
gave  a  lasting  impulse  to  the  study  of  all  the  cognate 
Semitic  languages,  and  thus  largely  increased  the  re- 
sources of  the  lexicographers,  emancipating  them 
from  the  dominion  of  Rabbinic  tradition  and  giving 
them  the  choice  of  varied  interpretations.  But  the 
modern  dictionaries  surpass  Buxtorf  not  only  in 
materials  but  in  methods.  They  have  assumed  a 
form  rigidly  scientific,  and  beginning  with  the  root 
meaning,  trace  all  subsequent  modifications  and  ap- 
plications in  a  way  which  vastly  facilitates  the  efforts 
of  the  student,  giving  him  in  a  convenient  form  the 
results  of  the  labors  of  all  Hebrew  scholars  for  two 
centuries  and  a  half.  Similar  is  the  case  with  com- 
mentaries. All  the  aid  of  this  kind  enjoyed  by 
King  James's  translators  was  limited  to  the  church 
fathers,  few  of  whom  were  acquainted  with  Hebrew, 


THE   NEED   OF  A   EEVISION".  27 

and  to  tlie  writers  of  the  Eeformation  period.  The 
latter  in  some  cases  were  men  of  keen  insight,  of 
exegetical  tact  and  of  large  views  of  truth,  and  are 
tlierefore  of  vahie  even  to  day.  But  in  the  nature 
of  things  they  could  not  construct  a  critical  commen- 
tary of  the  kind  which  abounds  in  our  time.  They 
did  not  have  the  necessary  materials  or  training  for 
minute  analysis  of  the  text  and  thorough  discussion 
of  its  possible  meanings,  whereas  now  the  press 
teems  from  year  to  year  w^ith  the  results  of  the  labors 
of  specialists  by  whom  every  new  source  of  knowl- 
edge is  carefully  explored.  Their  efforts  are  greatly 
aided  by  the  progress  made  in  archaeology,  geog- 
raphy, natural  history,  and  monumental  theology. 
The  old  cartography  of  Palestine  was  mainly  mere 
conjecture,  and  often  ludicrously  wrong,  while  to-day 
the  whole  area  of  Bible  lands  has  been  triangulated, 
so  that  the  maps  made  are  more  accurate  than  many 
of  those  of  our  own  country.  The  manners  and  cus- 
toms have  been  accurately  recorded,  and  as  Oriental 
life  suffers  no  change  in  these  respects,  a  flood  of 
light  is  thrown  upon  numerous  points  which  before 
were  involved  in  deep  obscurity.  Natural  science 
has  also  contributed  to  the  better  understanding  of 
the  nature  of  the  animals,  plants,  minerals,  and 
heavenly  bodies  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  while  all 
articles  of  food,  domestic  utensils,  military  appli- 
ances, etc.,  are  clearly  explained  by  the  books  of  an- 
tiquities. In  addition  to  this  are  the  contributions 
made  by  the  discoveries  of  the  present  century  in  the 
language,  history,  religion,  and  habits  of  the  ancient 


28  OLD  TESTAMENT   REVISION-. 

Egyptians,  and  also  by  the  decipliering  of  cuneiform 
cliaracters,  and  tlie  consequent  revelation  of  the  early 
history  of  Assyria  and  Babylon.  It  is  hardly  pos- 
sible to  exaggerate  the  aid  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures  to  be  derived  from  Egyptology  and 
Assyriology,  whose  treasures  were  not  even  dreamed 
of  in  the  days  of  James  I.  The  question,  then,  is 
whether  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  these  varied 
sources  of  knowledge  shall  be  confined  to  the  learned 
or  shall  be  made  the  common  property  of  the  people 
by  being  incorporated  in  the  version  of  the  Script- 
ures which  they  have  in  daily  use. 

4.  The  Correction  of  Acknoidedged  Erroi'S. — 
There  are  numerous  renderings  which  are  declared 
to  be  incorrect  by  all  lexicons  and  commentaries  of  a 
critical  character.  Some  of  these  are  cases  in  which 
the  word  occurs  singly  or  in  only  a  few  instances, 
but  others  are  often  repeated.  For  example,  the 
word  hypocrite  is  found  eight  times  in  the  Book  of 
Job,  yet  in  not  one  of  them  does  the  original  term 
have  that  meaning,  and  the  reader  therefore  is  mis- 
led. So  one  of  the  oblations  mentioned  over  and 
over  in  the  Pentateuch  and  elsewhere  is  styled  a 
^' meat  offering,"  which  inevitably  leads  the  reader 
to  suppose  that  it  is  an  animal  sacrifice,  whereas  the 
Hebrew  really  means  an  unbloody  oblation,  and  is 
appropriately  rendered  ''meal  offering."  In  the 
following  list  the  incorrect  word  is  placed  first,  Avitli 
a  reference  to  one  of  the  places  where  it  occurs,  and 
then  the  true  meaning  as  generally  acce]3ted  among 
scholars  : 


THE   NEED   OF   A   REVISION. 


29 


Apothecary,  (Ex.  xxx.  25), 
Avenging,  (Judges  v.  2), 

Bittern,  (Is.  xiv.  23), 
Borrow,  (Ex.  xi.  2), 
Breaches,  (Judges  v.  17), 

Candle,  (Job  xviii.  6), 
Caldron,  (Jer.  Hi.  18), 
College,  (II.  Kings  xxii.  14), 
Coast,  (Jer.  xxv.  32), 
Crooked,  (Job  xxvi.  13), 

Dead  things,  (Job  xxvi.  5), 
Diet,  (Jer.  Hi.  34), 
Dragons,  (Ps.  Ixxiv.  13), 
(Job  xxx.  29), 
Dregs,  (Is.  H.  17), 

Flagons  of  wine,  (Hos.  iii.  1), 
Fires,  (Is.  xxiv.  15), 
F]  ood,  (Joshua  xxiv.  14), 
Foxes,  (Judges  xv.  4), 

Groves,  (Ex.  xxxiv.  13), 
Galleries,  (Cant.  vii.  5), 
Grow  up,  (Mai.  iv.  2), 

Hats,  (Dan.  iii.  2), 

Hearth,  (Jer.  xxxvi.  22), 

Hen,  (Ps.  xvi.  10), 

House  of  God,  (Judges  xx.  18), 

Hypocrite,  (Job  viii.  13), 

Island  of  the  innocent,  (Job  xxii. 

30), 
Images,  (Lev.  xxvi.  30), 
*'       (Gen.  xxxi.  19), 

Jasher,  (II.  Sam  i.  18), 
Jaw,  (Judges  xv.  19), 


Perfumer. 
Leaders. 

Porcupine 

Ask. 

Creeks  or  harbors 

Lamp. 

Pot. 

Second  ward. 

Uttermost  part. 

Fleet,  or  fleeing. 

The  shades. 

Allowance. 

Monsters. 

Jackals. 

Bowl. 

Pressed  grapes. 
The  East. 
The  river. 
Jackals. 

Pillars. 
Curls  of  hair. 
Leap. 

Mantles. 

Brasier 

Sheol,  Hades,  the  underworld. 

Bethel. 

Ungodly. 


The  not  innocent. 

Sun-images. 

Teraphim,  household  gods. 

The  upright. 

Lehi  (a  proper  name). 


30  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOIn'. 

Kid  of  the  goats,  (Gen.  xxxvii.  31),  He-goat. 

Lamps,  (Ezek.  i.  13),  Torches. 

Linen  yarn,  (I.  Kings  x.  28),  Droves  of  horses. 

Mount  Ephraim,  (Josh,  xxiv.  23),  Hill  country  of  Ephraim. 
Multitude  of  No,  (Jer.  xlvi.  25),    Amon  of  No. 
Mules,  (Gen.  xxxvi.  24),  Warm  springs. 

Nitre,  (Jer.  ii.  22),  Lye. 

Owl,  (Lev.  xi.  16),  Ostrich. 

Plain  of  Mamre,  (Gen.  xviii.  1),  Oaks  of  Mamre. 

People,  (Gen.  xxv.  23),  Peoples  (nations). 

Paper  reeds,  (Is.  xix.  7),  Meadows. 

Populous  No,  (Nah.  iii.  8),  No  Amon. 

Pots,  (Jer.  XXXV.  5),  Bowls. 

River  of  Egypt,  (Num.  xxxiv.  5),  Brook  of  Egj^ot  (not  the  Nile). 
Eeward,  (Jer.  xl.  5),  Present. 

Satyrs,  (Is.  xiii.  2),  Goats. 

Scapegoat,  (Lev.  xvi.  8),  Eemoval. 

Screech  owl,  (Is.  xxxiv.  14),  Night  monster. 

Scum,  (Ezek.  xxiv.  6),  Eust. 

Shameful  spewing,  (Hab.  ii.  16),    Ignomin3\ 

South,  (Gen.  xii.  9),  The   South,   a   definite  region 

so-called. 
Spider,  (Prov.  xxxviii.  31),  Lizard. 

Sweet  influences,  (Job  xxxviii.  31),  Cluster,  or  chain. 


Thick  clay,  (Hab.  ii.  6), 

Pledges. 

Table,  (Is.  xxx.  8), 

Tablet. 

Tablet,  (Is.  iii.  20), 

Perfume  box. 

Torches,  (Nah.  ii.  3), 

Steel. 

Troop,  (Amos  ix.  6), 

Vault. 

Valley,  (Josh.  xi.  16), 

Lowland. 

Veil,  (Ruth  iii.  15), 

Mantle. 

Unicorn,  (Num.  xxiii.  22), 

Wild  ox. 

Wounds,  (Prov.  xviii.  8), 

Dainty  morsels. 

THE   NEED   OF   A    REVISION".  31 

But  besides  mistakes  as  to  the  meaning  of  particu- 
lar words,  there  are  numerous  inaccuracies  of  render- 
ing, as  wlien  in  Ps.  xvi.  2  "  My  goodness  extendeth 
not  to  thee"  is  given  instead  of  the  far  richer  as  well 
as  more  correct  version,  ^'I  have  no  good  beyond 
thee  ;"  or  when  the  sublime  theophany  in  Hab.  iii. 
has  the  grotesque  utterance,  ""he  had  horns  coming 
out  of  his  hand,' '  the  true  sense  being,"  Rays  stream 
forth  from  his  liand  ;"  or  when  in  Job  xxvi.  5  we 
read,  ''  Dead  things  are  formed  from  under  the 
waters,"  a  senseless  statement,  whereas  the  true  sense 
is,  "  The  dead  tremble  beneath  the  waters  ;"  or 
when  the  conjectural  clause  '^  all  that  make  sluices 
and  ponds  for  fish,"  stands  in  Isa.  xix.  10  for  the 
pertinent  utterance,  "  All  that  work  for  hire  are  sad 
at  heart."  Misapprehension  of  the  tense  forms  of 
the  Hebrew  verb  occurs  very  frequently.  This  re- 
mark does  not  refer  to  the  modern  theory  that  the 
so-called  tenses  in  Hebrew  do  not,  as  in  other  lan- 
guages, express  relations  of  time,  but  are  rather  moods 
— ?.6.,  express  the  character  of  an  action  as  incipient 
or  continuous  or  completed.  Quite  apart  from  this 
view,  which  seems  now  to  have  won  general  accept- 
ance, there  are  many  instances  in  which  the  Author- 
ized Version  conceals  or  misstates  the  order  of  events  as 
stated  in  the  original.  Psalm  Ixvii.  6  we  read,  '^Then 
shall  the  earth  yield  her  increase,"  whereas  the  poet 
really  says,  "The  land  hath  yielded  her  increase, " 
referring  doubtless  to  a  recent  harvest,  the  theme  of 
the  praise' given  before,  and  of  the  confident  hope 
expressed  afterward.     In  Habakkuk  iii.  3  it  is  said, 


32  OLD   TESTAMENT   EEVISION. 

'^  God  came  from  Teman,"  as  if  the  splendid  tlie- 
opliany  tliat  follows  were  something  in  the  past, 
whereas  the  prophet  is  foretelling  what  is  to  come, 
and  the  true  rendering  is  either  ^'  cometh  "  or  ''  will 
come."  So  the  definite  article  is  sometimes  omitted 
where  it  occurs  in  the  original,  and  again  is  inserted 
where  it  does  not.  Thus  the  divine  announcement 
of  Samson's  birth  (Judges  xiii.  3)  was  made  not  by 
tlie^  but  by  an^  angel  of  the  Lord,  whose  character  is 
left  to  be  seen  from  what  followed.  The  statement 
(Judges  XV.  19),  "  God  clave  an  hollow  place  that  was 
in  the  jaw,"  should  be,  "  God  dave  the  hollow  place 
that  was  in  Lehi." 

Hebraisms  which  mislead  the  common  reader  are 
not  resolved  into  English  idiom.  Thus,  ''  God  of 
my  righteousness "  (Ps.  iv.  1)  ought,  to  express 
the  sense,  to  be  ''my  righteous  God,"  and  "the 
throne  of  His  holiness"  in  Fs.  xlvii.  8  should  be 
"  His  holy  throne."  In  Is.  xiii.  3  "them  that  re- 
joice in  my  highness,"  which  is  unmeaning  in  the 
connection,  should  be  "  my  proudly  exulting  ones." 
In  the  same  book  (vii.  16)  "  the  land  that  thou  ab- 
horrest  shall  be  forsaken  of  both  her  kings,"  properly 
rendered  is,  "  the  land  shall  be  forsaken  of  whose 
two  kings  thou  art  sore  afraid."  A  similar  miscon- 
struction of  the  relative  pronoun  is  found  in  Ps.  Iv. 
19,  "  God  shall  hear,  and  afflict  them,  even  he  that 
abideth  of  old.  Selah.  Because  they  have  no 
changes,  therefore  they  fear  not  God."  The  true 
sense  is,  "  God  shall  hear  and  afflict  them,  .  .  . 
who  have  no  changes  and  who  fear  not  God  " — l.e.^ 


THE   NEED    OF   A   REVISION.  33 

as  Dr.  H.  ^Y.  Green  expounds,  as  God  lieard  the 
Psalmist  in  mercy  {v.  17),  so  He  will  hear  these  in 
wrath,  answering  not  their  prayers,  for  they  do  not 
pray,  but  the  voice  of  their  malignant  slanders.  In 
Ps.  xix.  3  the  insertion  of  the  italic  word  where  en- 
tirely deranges  the  relation  of  the  verse  to  what  pre- 
cedes, and  introduces  a  thought  quite  different  from 
that  which  David  intended.  The  translators  make 
the  passage  assert  the  universality  of  God's  self- 
revelation  in  nature,  whereas  the  true  sense  is  that 
all  nature  has  a  voice,  though  it  is  not  addressed  to 
man's  outward  ear  : 

There  is  no  speech  nor  language  ; 

Their  voice  is  not  heard. 

Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  etc. 

An  equally  striking  instance  is  found  in  Ps.  x.  4, 
*^  God  is  not  in  all  his  thoughts."  Instead  of  this 
tame  and  commonplace  utterance,  the  correct  render- 
ing gives  the  fine  and  piercing  conception,  ''All 
his  thoughts  are,  There  is  no  God."  All  his  plans 
and  schemes  are  a  practical  denial  of  the  divine 
existence. 

It  would  seem,  then,  that  the  need  of  a  revision  of 
the  Old  Testament  has  been  made  plain.  It  is  not  a 
mere  fancy  of  men  hunting  for  novelties,  but  a  cer- 
tain and  solid  reality.  The  English  Bible  should 
conform  to  the  present  state  of  the  language  and  rep- 
resent the  present  stage  of  critical  and  exegetical 
investigation.  The  ordinary  reader  should  be  placed 
as  far  as  possible  on  a  level  with  the  scholar  in  con- 
Bulting  its  pages,  at  least  so  far  as  that  end  can  be 


34  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

reached  bj  accurate  and  idiomatic  translation.  He 
has  a  right  to  claim  that  no  pains  be  spared  to  gi^e 
him  access  to  the  whole  counsel  of  God  as  contained 
in  [lis  blessed  Word,  so  that  he  may  be  furnished 
completely  unto  every  good  work,  and  this  the  more, 
since  in  regard  to  very  many  cases  there  is  a  sub- 
stantial agreement  among  the  learned,  both  as  to  the 
incorrectness  of  the  common  version  and  as  to  the 
way  in  which  the  proper  correction  should  be  made. 
Nor  is  there  any  force  in  the  objection  frequently 
raised  that  any  attempt  at  revision,  however  carefully 
pursued,  must  inevitably  do  harm  by  unsettling  peo- 
ple's minds,  and  weakening  if  not  destroying  their 
confidence  in  what  they  have  always  been  taught  to 
regard  as  the  Word  of  God.  For  the  evil,  if  it  be 
sucli,  has  already  been  wrought.  The  Christian 
public  is  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the  English  Bible 
is  only  a  human  translation  of  the  living  oracles,  and 
that  its  correctness  has  at  times  and  in  places  been 
severely  questioned.  And  a  tranquillity  which  rests 
upon  a  false  or  inadequate  basis  ought  to  be  dis- 
turbed. We  repudiate  the  maxim  that  ignorance  is 
the  mother  of  devotion,  and  maintain  that  real  wor- 
shippers should  "  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  Him." 
True  believers  are  acceptable  and  useful,  generally, 
in  proportion  to  their  knowledge  of  divine  revela- 
tion. The  simplest  elements  of  the  Gospel,  such  as 
are  found  in  even  the  most  imperfect  versions,  are 
indeed  enough  for  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  But 
something  more  is  needed  if  the  disciple  is  to  grow 


THE   NEED   OF   A    REYISION".  35 

in  cliaracrer,  in  strength  and  in  completeness. 
There  must  be  a  hirger  and  better  acquaintance  with 
the  riclies  of  the  divine  word,  and  the  more  accu- 
rately this  is  understood  and  ap]3reciated  the  more 
thoroughlj  is  the  Christian  fitted  to  serve  and  enjoy 
his  Lord.  The  Word  is  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and 
just  so  far  as  that  Word  is  imperfectly  rendered  in 
any  language,  the  sword  is  veiled  or  its  edge  dulled. 
A  correct  rendering  strips  off  the  veil  and  restores 
the  sharpness  and  point.  Such  an  advantage  is 
cheaply  gained  at  the  cost  of  disturbing  an  unreason- 
ing and  slothful  acquiescence  in  the  terms  of  a  tra- 
ditional version.  One  who  recognizes  the  fact  that 
even  the  best  translation  is,  after  all,  only  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  original,  and  yet  sees  in  that  approx- 
imation the  traces  of  a  divine  hand,  the  utterances 
of  a  wisdom  that  cometh  from  above,  is  for  that 
reason  more  firmly  grounded  in  the  truth  and  more 
stable  in  his  adherence  to  the  record  of  God's  re- 
vealed will. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  work 
of  revision  will  remove  all  obscurities  from  the  Script- 
ure. Sometimes  unwarrantable  anticipations  have 
been  cherished  in  this  respect.  'Not  to  speak  of  the 
sea  captain  impatient  of  the  restraints  of  the  Lord's 
day,  who  said  that  of  course  the  revisers  would  leave 
the  Fourth  Commandment  out  of  the  Decalogue, 
there  are  not  a  few  more  reverent  and  thoughtful 
persons  who  have  overestimated  what  is  possible  in 
the  matter.  There  are  some  terms  "used  in  describ- 
ing Solomon's  temple  which  were  not  understood  by 


36  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

the  Greek  translators  of  the  third  century  before  onr 
era,  and  of  course  cannot  be  understood  by  scholars 
of  this  day,  however  profound  or  acute.  The  same 
is  true  of  many  of  the  words  found  in  the  superscrip- 
tions of  the  Psalms.  No  one  can  pretend  to  do  more 
than  conjecture  the  precise  meaning.  So  again  there 
are  passages  where  it  seems  necessary  to  suppose  that 
some  corruption  of  the  text  has  in  the  course  of  time 
crept  in.  And  there  are  places  in  several  of  the 
prophets  where  the  utterance  is  so  brief  and  con- 
densed, and  the  connection  so  obscure,  that  candid 
students  must  content  themselves  with  an  approxima- 
tion to  the  sense  ;  and  only  rash  and  hasty  expositors 
are  willing  to  assert  that  they  have  certainly  ascer- 
tained the  prophet's  meaning.  There  will  therefore 
be  hard  places  in  the  revision  just  as  there  were  in 
the  authorized.  They  will  be  such,  however,  not 
from  lack  of  pains  and  care  on  the  part  of  the  re- 
visers, but  because  of  the  inherent  difficulties  of  the 
subject. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE   METHOD    OF    THE    REVISION. 

It  is  one  thing  to  detect  a  fault,  but  quite  another 
to  amend  it.  The  imperfections  of  the  English  Bible 
have  been  distinctly  seen  for  more  than  a  century, 
and  there  have  been  numerous  attempts  at  removing 
them  both  in  Great  Britain  and  in  this  country.  In 
some  cases  the  attempt  was  confined  to  a  single  book, 
in  others  it  extended  to  the  whole  volume.  Some- 
times the  translators  or  revisers  were  elegant  and  pro- 
found scholars,  at  others  they  were  mere  sciolists 
destitute  of  every  qualification  for  the  work.  As  an 
illustration  of  the  latter  may  be  cited  a  verse  from  a 
translation  of  the  Book  of  Job  issued  ten  years  ago 
by  a  layman  (O.  S.  Halstead,  of  'New  Jersey),  who 
had  acquired  eminence  at  the  bar  of  his  own  State. 
He  rendered  the  first  verse  of  the  first  chapter  thus  : 
''  Man  was  in  land  Uz,  Job  name  of  him,  and  was 
that  man  which  be  upright  and  just,  and  feared  God, 
and  turned  aside  from  evil."  Such  wretched  abor- 
tions of  course  only  provoked  laughter  and  ridicule. 
But  even  when  scholarly  men,  like  Bishop  Lowth, 
Archbishop  Newcome,  or  the  American  professor. 
Dr.  George  R.  Noyes,  took  the  matter  in  hand,  they 
never  reached  more  than  partial  or  temporary  sue- 


38  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

cess.  Students  of  Scripture  were  glad  to  have  these 
versions  for  comparison,  but  no  serious  thouglit  of 
substituting  them  for  the  authorized  was  ever  enter' 
tained.  The  faihire  of  so  many  varied  enterprises 
led  to  a  general  conviction  that  the  object  in  view 
was  siraplj  unattainable,  that  nothing  could  ever 
displace  the  common  Bible,  and  that  the  agitation  of 
the  subject  could  work  only  injury,  in  unsettling 
people's  minds  in  respect  to  the  authority  of  Script- 
ure. But  about  thirty  years  ago  the  matter  was 
taken  up,  not  by  mere  surface  students,  or  foolish 
fanatics,  or  acknowledged  errorists,  but  by  men  both 
learned  and  devout,  who  had  no  private  ends  to  seek 
and  nopecuhar  or  pet  notions  to  establish,  and  whose 
position  in  the  community  entitled  them  to  a  hear- 
ing. Among  the  earliest  of  these  were  Bishop  Elli- 
cott.  Archbishop  Trench,  and  Dean  Alford.  Their 
arguments  and  some  tentative  efforts  put  forth  under 
their  direction  produced  a  considerable  effect  among 
men  of  liberal  culture,  and  there  began  to  be  a  wide- 
spread conviction  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  re- 
vision. Yet  there  were  voices  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, among  which  were  those  of  the  learned  Dr. 
Scrivener,  Dr.  McCaul,  and  the  Rev.  S.  C.  Malan. 
To  these  must  be  added  the  high  authority  of  one  of 
our  own  most  eminent  scholars,  the  Hon.  George  P. 
Marsh,  late  Minister  to  Italy,  who,  in  a  valuable 
chapter  of  his  '^  Lectures  on  the  Enghsh  Language, '^ 
deprecated  a  revision  as  ''not  merely  unnecessary 
but  wholly  premature."  It  was  well  that  such  op- 
position existed.     It  led  to  e^^treme  caution  both  in 


THE   METHOD   OF  THE   REVISION".  39 

the  work  tliat  was  attempted  and  the  way  in  whicli 
it  was  set  about.  It  induced  men  to  seek  not  a  new 
translation  of  the  Scriptures,  but  a  revision  of  the  ex- 
isting one,  and  to  do  this  under  such  auspices  as 
would  give  it  a  catholic  or  undenominational  char- 
acter. To  this  end  the  matter  was  brought  before 
the  Lower  House  of  Convocation  of  the  province  of 
Canterbury  ;  but  though  it  was  urged  with  much  elo- 
quence and  ability  no  success  was  attained.  Corre- 
sponding efforts  were  made  from  time  to  time  in  the 
House  of  Commons  to  get  a  royal  commission  ap- 
pointed on  the  subject,  but  these  were  all  fruitless. 
At  last,  in  the  year  1870,  the  Upper  House  of  the 
Canterbury  Convocation,  on  motion  of  Bishop  Wil- 
berforce,  took  the  subject  in  hand,  and  instituted  the 
proceedings  which  finally  secured  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  work.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  cite 
the  text  of  its  resolutions  or  gi\^e  the  details  of  its 
action,  except  so  far  as  they  will  appear  in  stating 
the  general  characteristics  of  the  revision  which  is 
now  completed. 

1.  The  Auspices  of  the  Work. — It  is  not  a  private 
enterprise  undertaken  for  the  sake  of  either  fame  or 
gain.  It  is  not  a  publisher's  job,  nor  is  it  the  work 
of  a  self-appointed  scholar  or  set  of  scholars,  but 
owes  its  existence  to  the  deliberate  action  of  a  body 
which  challenges,  not  to  say  commands,  universal 
respect.  This  is  the  larger  of  the  two  provinces  of 
the  Church  of  England,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Anglican  Reformation  and  the  lineal  descendant  of 
the  devout  and  learned  scholars  who  came  together 


40  OLD  TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

at  the  call  of  King  James.  No  one  supposes  tliat  all 
wisdom  on  this  subject  is  confined  to  the  Convoca- 
tion of  Canterbury.  But  it  is  undeniable  that  of  all 
religious  bodies  in  English-speaking  Christendom  this 
one  was  best  fitted  to  set  on  foot  a  work  of  so  much 
difiicultj,  delicacy,  and  importance.  Its  position,  its 
relation  to  the  English  crown  and  people,  its  history, 
its  long  line  of  illustrious  scholars  and  divines,  its 
wealth  of  ancestral  traditions,  gave  it  the  right  to 
take  the  lead.*  Every  suggestion  of  local,  petty, 
selfish  aims  is  at  once  precluded,  and  assurance  is 
given  to  all  men  that  whatever  comes  forth  under 
such  direction  must  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  merit 
the  most  candid  and  careful  consideration.  And 
whenever  the  revisers,  whether  British  or  American, 
are  asked  by  what  authority  they  assumed  the  duty 
they  have  taken  upon  themselves,  they  are  able  to 
give  a  very  prompt  and  satisfactory  answer.  It  was 
the  authority  of  a  grave,  dignified,  and  representative 
body,  acting  not  in  haste  but  at  leisure,  not  rashly 
but  in  the  exercise  of  great  deliberation.  Nothing 
like  this  has  been  seen  in  any  other  attempt  at  re- 
vision during  the  two  centuries  and  three  quarters 
which  have  elapsed  since  the  Authorized  Version 
was  issued. 

*  "  The  Church  of  England  still  represents  the  largest  member- 
ship, the  strongest  institutions,  the  richest  literature,  among 
those  ecclesiastical  organizations  which  have  sprung  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  stock.  ...  No  royal  decree,  no  act  of  Parliament, 
could  nowadays  inaugurate  such  a  work  of  Christian  scholar- 
ship."— Bev.  Dr.  Schaff. 


THE   METHOD    OF   THE   REVISION.  41 

2.  Its  CatkoliG  Character. — But  while  tlie  re- 
vision owes  its  existence  to  the  Chiircli  of  Enghmd, 
it  was  not  made  solely  by  members  of  that  body. 
The  committee  appointed  by  the  convocation  was  ex- 
pressly authorized  to  ''  invite  the  co-operation  of  any 
eminent  for  scholarship,  to  whatever  nation  or  re- 
ligious body  they  may  belong."  Accordingly  some 
of  the  ablest  and  best-known  Biblical  scholars,  not 
only  from  all  schools  and  parties  of  the  English 
Church,  but  also  from  the  other  religious  bodies  of 
Britain,  were  invited  to  join  in  the  work,  and  the 
invitation  was  accepted.  In  the  American  Commit- 
tee a  yet  wider  range  was  taken  in  constituting  its 
membership,  and  in  consequence  members  of  all  the 
leading  denominations  of  Protestant  Christendom 
were  found  cordially  and  actively  engaged  in  the 
work.  Prelatist  and  Presbyterian,  Independent  and 
Methodist,  Baptist  and  Psedobaptist,  the  Lutheran 
and  the  Reformed,  and  the  Friends  ;  they  who  em- 
phasize divine  sovereignty  and  they  who  put  the 
stress  on  human  freedom  ;  they  who  see  only  unity 
in  the  Godhead  and  they  who  recognize  plurahty  as 
well  as  unity,  appear  alike  in  the  lists  of  the  re- 
visers. However  widely  differing  in  other  matters, 
they  agreed  in  regarding  the  Bible  as  God's  most 
holy  word,  the  one  rule  of  religious  faith,  the  one 
norm  of  human  duty  ;  and  they  could  conscien- 
tiously -unite  in  the  endeavor  to  make  the  version  the 
most  exact  reflection  possible  of  the  thought,  the 
spirit,  and  the  expression  of  the  original.  Their 
work,  therefore,  cannot  bear  the  stamp  of  a  sect  or  a 


42  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOIf. 

party,  nor  is  it  colored  by  the  views  of  any  particular 
school.  In  its  freedom  from  scholastic  or  denomina- 
tional prejudices  it  resembles,  or  even  excels,  the 
noble  simplicity  of  the  Authorized  Version.  I  say, 
excels,  for  even  that  great  work  was  tinged,  no  doubt 
unconsciously  on  their  part,  by  the  famiharity  of  its 
authors  with  the  Latin  Yulgate,  which  was  constantly 
in  their  hands  for  all  purposes,  much  as  the  common 
Bible  is  with  men  of  our  day."^  In  the  present  case 
the  concurrent  action  of  so  many  revisers  of  different 
names  is  a  security  that  even  accidental  error  of  this 
kind  has  been  guarded  against,  and  that  whatever 
other  faults  may  be  found  there  will  be  none  due  to 
sectarian  bias.  The  book  retains  what  has  long  been 
the  glory  of  the  Authorized  Yersion — that  it  was  an 
acknowledged  bond  of  union  among  all  ProtestaLit 
Christians  and  the  common  standard  of  their  faith. 
It  is  quite  true  that  there  will  be  some  disappoint- 
ment. Corrections  of  the  text  or  of  the  rendering 
will  occasionally  be  found  to  deprive  a  controver- 
sialist of  some  passages  to  which  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  appeal  in  support  of  his  particular  views, 
and  he  will  feel  like  a  man  whose  sujDporting  staff 
has  been  suddenly  wrenched  from  his  hand.  But  it 
is  likely  that  what  is  lost  in  one  direction  will  be 
regained  in  another  ;  or  ev^en  if  this  be  not  so,  the 
evil  will  not  be  confined  to  any  one  class,  but  ex- 

*  The  false  rendering  of  a  plirase  in  Acts  ii.  47,  "  such  as 
should  be  saved,"  has  been  ascribed  to  a  predestinarian  bias  in 
the  translators,  yet  it  was  derived  from  Tjndale,  who  no  doubt 
got  it  from  the  Vulgate  qui  salvifierent. 


THE   METHOD    OP   THE    REYISIOX.  43 

tended  to  all  ;  so  that  in  tlie  general  result  each  reader 
will  find  himself  as  well  able  to  establish  his  own 
views  from  the  revision  as  he  was  from  the  Author- 
ized Version.  In  any  event  it  is  certain  that  what- 
ever disadvantage  he  may  suffer,  it  is  not  due  to  any 
intentional  obliquity  on  the  part  of  the  revisers. 
Their  work  is  as  nearly  a  colorless  medium  for  the 
div^ine  light  to  shine  through  as  is  possible.  Nothing 
is  refracted  or  distorted. 

3.  Its  International  Feature. — The  enterprise  was 
begun  beyond  sea  in  1870,  but  in  the  next  year  an 
American  committee  of  co-operation  was  organized  ; 
and  from  1872  onward  the  two  committees  were  at 
work  in  constant  correspondence  with  each  other, 
having  the  same  principles  and  pursuing  the  same 
objects.  The  advantage  of  this  arrangement  is  ob  • 
vious.  It  gives  the  American  people  a  direct  partici- 
pation in  the  authorship,  so  that  the  work  does  not 
come  burdened  with  any  prejudice  as  the  product 
solely  of  a  foreign  land,  but  may  be  welcomed  as 
one  in  which  cis- Atlantic  scholars  have  borne  an 
honorable  and  useful  part.  For  it  cannot  be  in  vain 
that  from  twenty  to  thirty  additional  laborers  have 
been  engaged,  and  the  less  so,  as  the  joint  conclu- 
sions of  one  committee  have  been  constantly  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  other.  In  this  way  the 
workings  of  different  minds  and  repeated  revisions  of 
the  results  obtained  have  greatly  diminished  the 
chances  of  error.  Indeed,  the  larger  the  number  of 
persons  employed,  provided  they  have  opportunity 
to  meet  and  compare  their  results,  the  less  likely  is 


44  OLD   TESTAMENT   EEVISIOiS'. 

their  work  to  be  disfigured  bv  one-sided  views  or  in- 
disidual  caprice.  It  is  true  tliat  this  advantage  of 
personal  conference  lias  been  purchased  on  our  side 
of  tlie  water  at  the  cost  of  limiting  the  selection  of 
revisers  to  those  persons  whose  residence  was  with- 
in easy  reach  of  New  York,  where  the  sessions  of  the 
conimittee  were  held,  thus  excluding  not  a  few 
Fcholars  whose  co-operation  would  have  been  very 
desirable.  Still  the  gaiu  has  been  worth  its  cost. 
The  international  character  of  the  work  has  had  its 
effect  upon  the  language  employed.  There  are  found 
in  Britain  and  America  certain  differences  of  usage 
which  obtain  among  all  classes,  even  the  most  culti- 
vated. For  example,  the  word  corn  here  always  de- 
notes maize,  but  in  Great  Britain  it  is  used  as  pre- 
cisely equivalent  to  what  we  call  grain.  In  all  such 
cases  it  was  the  duty  of  the  American  committee  to 
bring  forward  the  fact  of  the  variant  usage  so  that 
ambiguities  might  be  avoided,  and  a  version  secured 
which  would  express  the  same  thing  to  the  British 
reader  and  the  American.  The  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion was  difficult,  for  on  one  hand  the  interests  of 
more  than  fifty  millions  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
were  not  to  be  liglitly  disregarded,  and  on  the  other 
the  heirlooms  of  the  language  as  preserved  in  the 
country  of  its  birth  were  not  to  be  surrendered  with- 
out reason.  The  reader  will  find  that  in  most  cases 
the  English  usage  as  enshrined  in  the  Authorized 
Version  was  retained  in  the  text,  and  the  American 
noted  in  the  margin  or  given  in  the  appendix. 

4.  Freedom   from,  Restrictions. — King    James's 


THE   METHOD   OF   THE    KEVISIOX.  45 

translators  were  restricted  by  Lis  authority  in  res^ard 
to  certain  terms  which  had  been  consecrated  by  lung 
usage.  No  such  restriction  was  laid  upon  the  authors 
of  the  present  work,  the  only  rules  of  this  kind 
being  that  the  Authorized  Version  should  be  altered 
only  as  required  by  faithfulness,  and  that  as  decided 
by  a  two-thirds  v^ote,  and  that  the  expressions  of  such 
alteration  should  be  limited  as  far  as  possible  to  the 
language  of  the  authorized  and  earlier  versions. 
These  rules  are  so  clearly  wise  and  proper  that  they 
doubtless  would  have  been  observed  even  if  there 
had  been  no  injunction  to  that  effect.  In  all  else  the 
revisers  were  left  to  the  exercise  of  their  own  judg- 
ment, alike  as  to  the  text,  the  division  of  the  parts 
and  the  marginal  readings.  They  were  expected  to 
study,  and  they  did  study,  the  versions,  ancient  and 
modern,  and  especially  the  various  English  transla- 
tions, but  ultimately  the  inspired  original  was  the 
guide.  The  revisers  felt  themselves  responsible  to 
God,  and  not  to  any  man  or  set  of  men,  nor  had  they 
any  concern  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  changes  pro- 
posed to  be  made  might  affect  any  church  or  party. 
Their  duty  was  to  put  the  reader  in  possession  of  the 
truest,  fairest,  most  idiomatic  expression  of  the  living 
oracles.  Thus  they  worked  in  no  fetters  of  any 
kind,  and  were  dependent  only  on  that  good  Spirit 
without  whose  influence  no  permanent  service  can 
be  rendered  to  the  cause  of  truth.  This  fact  entitles 
the  revised  Bible  to  the  attention  of  any  thoughtful 
person,  since  it  represents  the  conclusion  of  various 
minds   working   independently  on   the   same   great 


46  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOIT. 

theme,  and  at  last  by  free  conference  coming  to  a 
harmonious  agreement.  This  indeed  is  no  guarantee 
against  the  occurrence  of  error,  but  it  does  cut  off 
what  in  all  previous  translations  and  revisions  has 
been  a  fruitful  source  of  imperfection,  and  some- 
times an  impassable  barrier  against  any  improvement. 
The  two  restrictions  that  have  been  mentioned  were, 
as  has  been  intimated,  eminently  judicious.  An  en- 
tirely new  translation  was  not  called  for,  and  if 
made,  would  have  had  no  chance  of  success.  The 
old  book  is  so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  jjeople,  so 
enshrined  in  precious  memories,  so  associated  with 
all  that  men  cherish  or  revere,  that  it  never  can  be 
displaced.  As  Faber  has  well  said,  "  The  memory 
of  the  dead  passes  into  it.  The  potent  traditions  of 
childhood  are  stereotyped  in  its  verses.  The  power 
of  all  the  griefs  and  trials  of  a  man  are  hid  beneath 
its  words.  It  is  the  representative  of  his  best  mo- 
ments, and  all  that  there  has  been  about  him  of  soft 
and  gentle  and  pure  and  penitent  and  good,  speaks 
to  him  forever  out  of  his  Protestant  Bible.  It  is  his 
sacred  thing,  which  doubt  has  never  dimmed  and 
controversy  never  soiled."  No  folly  could  be  equal 
to  that  of  undertaking  to  supplant  such  a  book.  It 
must  be  retained,  and  whatever  emendations  are  in- 
troduced require  to  be  couched  as  far  as  possible  in 
the  language  of  the  period  when  the  book  was  first 
made,  for  that  language  represents  English  at  its 
best.  The  common  Bible  has  long  been  a  standard 
of  grave  and  reverend  speech,  compelling  the  admi- 
ration even  of  those  who  have  no  sympathy  with  its 


THE    METHOD    OF   THE    REVISIOiT.  47 

contents  or  aim.  Mr.  Huxley,  surely  no  prejudiced 
critic,  said  of  the  book  :  "It  is  written  in.  tlie  no- 
blest and  purest  English,  and  abounds  in  exquisite 
beauties  of  mere  literary  form."  The  revisers  will 
hardly  maintain  that  they  have  always  succeeded  in 
preserving  the  simplicity  and  strength,  the  union  of 
Saxon  force  and  Latin  dignity,  the  idiomatic  ease  and 
rhythmic  flow  of  the  pages  under  their  hands,  but  cer- 
tain it  is  that  this  has  always  been  their  endeavor. 

4.  Uniformity. — In  this  respect  the  authorized  is 
sadly  deficient.  In  many  cases  the  same  Hebrew 
word  is  variously  rendered  when  there  is  no  reason, 
rhetorical  or  logical,  for  the  variation,  and  sometimes 
w'len  the  force  or  elegance  of  the  passage  dej)ends 
upon  the  preserving  of  uniformity.  For  example, 
in  Numb.  xxxv.  the  same  Hebrew  word  is  translated 
in  V.  11,  the  slayer,  in  v.  12,  the  7)ian-slayer,  and 
in  V.  16,  the  imvrderer.  So  in  Gen.  i.  20  the  Author- 
ized Version  reads,  "Ye  thought  evil  against  me, 
but  God  meant  it  unto  good,"  but  in  the  orig- 
inal it  is  the  same  verb  in  both  clauses,  and  it  should 
have  been  rendered  by  the  same  English  word,  so  as 
to  bring  out  the  strong  contrast  between  God's  thought 
and  man's  thought  in  reference  to  the  matter.  Vari- 
ations of  this  kind  are  owing  partly  to  tlie  fact 
that  King  James's  revision  was  executed  by  a 
number  of  different  companies  sitting  in  different 
places,  whose  results  were  not  carefully  co-ordinated  ; 
partly  to  the  feeling  of  the  translators  that  identity 
of  words  would  "  savor  more  of  curiosity  than  of 
wisdom  ;"  and  somewhat  also  to  their  habit  of  fol- 


48  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

lowing  the  preceding  versions  from  Tyndale  and 
Coverdale  down  to  tlie  authors  of  the  Bishop's  Bible, 
in  regard  to  certain  phrases  and  ecclesiastical  terms. 
All  this  is  changed  in  the  present  work.  The  aim 
of  its  authors  was  so  to  conduct  their  proceedings  as 
neither  to  confound  thins^s  that  differ  nor  to  create 
differences  where  they  do  not  exist  in  the  original. 
They  therefore  sought  in  all  cases  where  anything 
depended  upon  the  matter,  to  render  a  Hebrew  word 
by  the  same  Englisli  teriu,  and,  if  possible,  not  to 
employ  one  English  word  to  render  two  different 
words  of  the  original.  They  have  been  more  likely 
to  accomplish  this  end  because,  instead  of  being 
divided  into  three  companies,  as  was  the  case  with 
King  James's  translators  of  the  Old  Testament,  they 
all  constituted  one  company.  Thus  the  same  men 
critically  examined  the  entire  Hebrew  text,  and  were 
enabled  continually  to  watch  the  progress  of  the 
work  and  see  that  uniformity  of  phrasing  was  main- 
tained unless  in  cases  where  there  was  good  reason 
for  a  contrary  course.  And  as  they  had  before  them 
the  Authorized  Version  and  the  long  train  of  criti- 
cisms to  which  it  has  been  subjected  on  this  ground, 
they  were  the  better  able  to  guard  against  a  similar 
error  in  their  own  work.  And  w^hile  they  have 
hardly  attained  perfect  exactness,  they  have  beyond 
doubt  made  a  near  approach  to  it,  and  thus  have 
greatly  facilitated  the  efforts  of  the  mere  English 
reader  in  ascertaining  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.  Any 
concordance  of  the  revision  will  be  far  more  trust- 
worthy than  one  of  the  old  concordances  could  be,  for 


THE    METHOD    OF   THE    REVISIO:^'.  49 

it  will  enable  the  nnlearned  to  trace  the  history  and 
use  of  a  word  with  a  great  degree  of  certainty. 

5.  Mature  Deliberation. — King  James's  Bible 
occupied  between  six  and  seven  years  in  its  prepara- 
tion. For  the  revision  ten  years  were  originally 
allowed,  and  this  sufficed  for  the  JN'ew  Testament, 
which  was  issued  from  the  press  in  May,  1881.  But 
the  Old  Testament  being  of  much  larger  bulk  re- 
quired an  extension  of  the  time,  and  has  actually 
taken  live  years  more.  Some  have  complained  of 
the  delay,  and  consider  it  a  great  trial  of  public 
patience  ;  but  reflecting  people  will  hardly  join  in 
this  opinion.  In  a  matter  of  so  great  importance,  so 
far-reaching  in  its  influence,  not  only  in  English- 
speaking  Christendom,  but  beyond  it,*  the  least  ex- 
cusable of  all  faults  would  be  hasty  and  superficial 
treatment.  There  must  be  large  research,  thorough 
study,  patient  thought  and  careful  comparisor  of 
views.  The  work  must  not  only  be  based  i.pon 
sound  principles  and  governed-  by  judicious  rules, 
but  also  be  carried  out  with  conscientious  diligence 
and  painstaking  care.  Less  than  this  could  not  be 
endured  for  a  moment.  To  supplant  a  book  which 
has  been  venerated  by  high  and  low  for  nearly  three 
centuries,  and  has  entered  into  the  heart  and  life  of 
the  people  as  no  other  volume  has  ever  done,  is  not 

*  To  the  author's  personal  knowledge  missionaries  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  heathen  world,  engaged  in  translating  the  Bible, 
have  looked  with  great  solicitude  for  the  appearance  of  this 
revision,  which  they  thought  would  be  a  great  help  to  them  in 
their  labors. 


50  OLD   TESTAMEN'T   REVISIOl!?". 

a  tiling  to  be  effected  on  short  notice  or  by  a  sudden 
burst  of  enthusiasm.  So  grave  a  procedure  requires 
the  utmost  caution  that  no  source  of  information  be 
neglected,  that  no  error  fail  to  be  guarded  against, 
and  that  in  every  case  the  best  rendering  be  adopted. 
Things  which  in  the  translation  of  another  book 
would  be  of  small  importance  here  assume  very  great 
magnitude,  because  the  matter  in  hand  is  the  Word 
of  God — that  word  tli  'ough  which  we  are  saved  and 
by  which  we  are  to  be  judged.  The  great  artist 
laboring  for  immortality,  excused  himself  on  that 
ground  for  giving  attention  to  what  to  others  seemed 
trifles.  Much  more  must  they  who  are  engaged  on 
what  is  the  revelation  of  the  Infinite  I  AM,  spare  no 
pains  to  give  to  their  rendering  of  its  words  the  ut- 
most possible  accuracy. 

This  has  been  the  case  with  the  present  work.  No 
other  revision  has  had  anything  like  the  amount  of 
time  and  labor  expended  upon  it  which  has  been  lav- 
ished upon  this  one  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
both  in  the  private  studies  of  its  authors  and  in  their 
joint  meetings  for  conference.  The  method  pursued 
was  this  :  The  English  company  made  a  first  re- 
vision of  a  given  portion,  which  was  printed  and  sent 
to  the  American  company,  who,  after  taking  time  for 
study  and  consultation,  transmitted  their  criticisms. 
Thereupon  a  second  revision  was  made  in  England, 
printed  copies  of  which  were,  as  before,  sent  across  the 
sea,  and  the  revisers  on  this  side  again  transmitted 
such  criticisms  as  occurred  to  them.  After  due  con- 
sideration of  these  a  conclusion  was  reached  and  the 


THE   METHOD   OF   THE   REVISION".  51 

present  text  substantially  adopted.  I  say  substan- 
tially, because  after  tlie  work  on  tlie  separate  portions 
had  been  finished  there  was  a  third  revision  of  the 
work  as  a  whole,  touching  various  suggestions,  both 
new  and  old,  as  to  particular  portions  of  difficulty  or 
importance.  This  being  submitted  to  the  American 
company,  they  proceeded  to  draw  up  a  list  of  the 
passages  in  which  they  preferred  a  text  or  margin 
different  from  what  had  been  adopted  by  the  Eng- 
lish brethren.  This  list  by  no  means  includes  all  the 
points  of  difference  between  the  two  companies,  but 
is  limited  to  those  which  were  deemed  of  sufficient 
magnitude  to  be  included  in  an  Appendix,  for  the 
American  revisers  were  anxious  to  make  this  Appen- 
dix as  small  as  possible.  Its  existence  is  no  mean  tes- 
timony^ to  the  earnestness  and  care  with  which  the 
revision  has  been  carried  on.  ]S'othing  was  neg- 
lected, nothing  slighted. 

This  fact  disposes  of  the  suggestion  which  has 
sometimes  been  made  of  a  re-revision  by  the  same 
parties.  E^othing  of  value  could  be  anticipated  from 
such  an  effort,  for  no  criticisms  could  be  brought 
before  the  committees,  if  reassembled,  which  had  not 
been  previously  considered  by  them.  This  is  proven 
by  experience  in  relation  to  the  Revised  'New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  com- 
panies who  made  this  revision  that  amid  all  the  nu- 
merous and  searchins:  investimitions  of  its  contents, 
whether  by  friendly  or  unfriendly  critics,  not  a  single 
point  has  been  brought  forward  which  was  not  pre- 
viously under  consideration  by  the  revisers.     Thej 


52  OLD   TESTAMEXT   rtEYISTON". 

weighed  all  the  matters  with  great  deliberation  and 
care,  and  reached  a  conclusion  which  for  thera  is  per- 
manent and  final.  There  is  no  likelihood  that  another 
consideration  would  lead  to  any  different  result. 
The  book  is  a  finality  for  this  generation,  and  no 
doubt  for  a  century  to  come.  At  least  that  period 
must  elapse  before  any  similar  body  of  men  under 
similar  auspices  conld  be  gathered  together  to  under- 
take a  fresh  revision.  It  is  true  exegetical  theology 
may  make  vast  advances  in  the  future,  and  Christian 
scholarship  may  add  very  largely  to  the  materials 
now  in  hand  for  the  exact  understanding  and  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible,  and  when  that  occurs  there  will 
be  a  call  for  some  means  of  putting  the  people  at 
large  in  possession  of  the  additional  knowledge  thus 
accpired  in  God's  providence  and  grace.  But  until 
that  period  arrives,  the  present  work  will  maintain  its 
position  and  character  as  a  satisfactory  exponent  of 
the  learriing,  judgment  and  faith  of  our  own  day, 
and  a  fair  expression  of  God's  revelation  of  Himself 
as  recorded  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 

6.  Reverence. — It  has  long  been  a  recognized  canon 
of  criticism  that  in  order  properly  to  expound  any 
book,  a  man  must  be  in  sympathy  with  its  design  and 
spirit  ;  for  if  not,  he  will  go  hopelessly  astray,  how- 
ever well  qualified  he  may  be  in  other  respects.  ^    And 

*  The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  P.  Peabody,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  late  Ezra  Abbot's  qualifications  for  a  Biblical  critic, 
used  this  just  and  incisive  language  :  "  In  the  preparation  for 
the  work,  I  include  not  merely' the  scholarly  aptitude,  the  linguis- 
tic training,  the   conversance  "with   the  Hebrew   lancruage   and 


THE    METHOD    OF   THE    REYISIO^T.  53 

this  is  equally  true  in  the  matter  of  translation.  The 
cold  or  indifferent  translator  will  insensibly  transfuse 
his  own  feelings  into  his  work,  while,  on  the  contrary, 
he  who  is  profoundly  impressed  with  the  dignity  and 
preciousness  of  his  task,  and  whose  soul  is  responsive 
to  the  matter  with  which  he  deals,  becomes  alive 
even  to  its  minutest  peculiarities,  catches  almost 
without  effort  its  dominant  tone,  and  reproduces  the 
foreign  original  in  a  faithful  counterpart.  It  is  this 
more  than  any  other  one  trait  that  gave  to  Luther 
and  Tyndale  their  matchless  skill  and  enduring  pre- 
eminence as  translators  of  the  Bible.  They  toiled 
not  for  fame  or  pelf  or  any  party  interest,  but  for 
God's  glory  and  the  souls  of  men.  The  book  upon 
which  they  wrought  was  to  them  the  living  oracle 
of  God,  the  guide  of  their  lives,  the  arbiter  of  their 
differences,  the  charter  of  their  hope  for  eternity. 
They  prized  it  with  reverence,  they  loved  it  with 
passion.  Their  grave  purpose,  their  intense  con- 
victions, lifted  them  above  all  puerilities  and  affecta- 

Scriptures,  and  with  cognate  dialects,  the  lack  of  which  wonld, 
of  course,  denote  titter  and  absolute  unfitness,  but  equally  a 
profound  sense  of  the  transcendent  worth  of  these  sacred  rec- 
ords as  the  world's  manual  of  truth  and  duty.  This  last 
requisite  has  its  intellectual  no  less  than  its  spiritual  signifi- 
cance. No  man  is  a  fit  critic  of  that  with  which  he  is  not  in 
full  sympathy.  Bentley  was  the  most  learned  man  of  his  time  ; 
but  he  made  a  fool  of  himself  by  his  attempted  emendations  of 
the  'Paradise  Lost,'  simply  because  he  had  no  poetry  in  his  soul, 
and  no  knowledge  of  words  or  metres  could  bring  his  mind 
into  relation  with  Milton's.  A  great  deal  of  (so-called)  Biblical 
criticism  has  been,  for  like  reason,  equally  learned  and 
worthless." 


54  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

tions,  and  every  page  bears  the  impress  of  tlieir  ear- 
nestness and  reverence.  It  may  be  meekly  yet  justly 
claimed  for  the  present  revisers  that  they  share 
largely  in  this  important  qualification.  They  have 
no  fellowship  with  the  disposition  which  of  late  years 
has  appeared  among  some  who  profess  and  call 
themselves  Christians,  to  speak  lightly  of  the  Script- 
ures as  a  partial  of  imperfect  record  of  revelation,  and 
to  lessen  the  force  with  which  the  book  lays  hold  of 
man's  mind  and  conscience.  On  the  contrary  they 
addressed  themselves  to  their  work  with  humiUty 
and  awe,  as  having  to  do  with  that  which  is  of  all 
things  most  sacred.  They  had  diiferent  theories  of 
inspiration,  and  varied  very  much  in  theological  opin- 
ion ;  but  to  them  the  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  while  it 
was  the  word  of  man,  was  also  the  Word  of  God, 
and  as  such  separated  by  an  immeasurable  interval 
from  every  other  book.  They  could  cordially  adopt 
the  language  of  Dr.  Temple,  the  present  Bishop  of 
London,  at  the  anniversary  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  in  May,  1883.  After  saying  of  the 
Bible  that  it  speaks  with  the  authority  of  its  Maker, 
he  adds  :  "  I  have  read  many  books  which  do  much 
for  the  human  intellect  and  the  human  spirit.  I 
have  read  many  books  which  teach  and  enlighten — 
wdiich  sometimes  seem,  as  it  were,  to  be  the  medium 
of  new  revelations  to  the  soul  ;  1  have  read  the  writ- 
ings of  good  men  and  of  great  men  ;  I  have  read  the 
writings  of  great  philosoj)hers  of  old — of  men  who 
saw  far  deeper  into  the  truth  by  the  power  of  won- 
derful intellects,  guided,  no  doubt,  by  God's  provi- 


THE   METHOD    OF   THE    REVISIOI^'.  65 

dence,  tlian  it  was  i^ossible  for  ordinary  men  to  see. 
I  have  read  many  books  which  set  before  the  soul 
the  loftiest  motives  of  action,  and  the  most  heavenly 
principles  to  guide  the  conduct ;  and  still,  wherever 
we  turn,  as  we  read  them  all,  we  feel  that  they  are 
referred  to  our  own  consciences  to  judge  ;  that  we 
still  are  called  to  discriminate,  and  to  say,  '  Here  I 
accept,  and  there  I  reject  ;  '  and  though  the  man  be 
a  greater  man  than  1,  still  my  judgment  remains  re- 
sponsible for  its  own  decision,  and  I  cannot  shift  the 
responsibility  on  any  other  shoulders  than  my  own. 
And  I  have  read  many  such  books,  and  have  felt 
that  1  have  learned  much  ;  and  still,  for  all  that, 
there  remains  the  sense  that  these  books,  though  they 
are  my  teachers,  are  not  my  rulers,  and  though  they 
instruct  me  they  cannot  command  me.  But  when  I 
turn  to  the  Word  of  God,  it  takes  me  straight,  as  it 
were,  into  God's  very  presence,  and  gives  its  mes- 
sage there,  by  an  authority  which  is  His  and  His 
alone." 

In  view,  then,  of  this  singular  authority  of  the 
book,  its  constituent  parts  were  handled  w^ith  tender- 
ness and  solicitude.  There  was  no  temptation  to  en- 
gage in  hazardous  speculations  or  seek  after  startling 
novelties.  The  one  thing  set  before  them  was  to 
render  the  meaning  of  Holy  Writ  accessible  to  the 
humblest  reader  in  a  form  not  inconsistent  with  its 
divine  origin  and  transcendent  importance.  The 
whole  treatment  has  been  reverential,  and  the  changes 
introduced  are  in  exact  consistency  with  this  feeling. 
The  revisers,  recognizing  the  simplicity  and  majesty 


56  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

of  the  old  version,  sought  to  perpetuate  the  same  in 
their  work,  and  thus  to  liave  the  book  in  form  and 
tone  suited  to  tlie  high  and  holy  character  of  Him  by 
whom  it  was  given  to  men.  If  they  have  succeeded 
in  this  endeavor  no  reader  will  find  himself  needlessly 
shocked  in  turning  its  pages.  On  the  contrary  he 
w^ill  see  and  feel  that  it  is  the  same  blessed  volume 
with  which  he  has  long  been  familiar,  out  of  which 
he  was  taught  in  his  childhood  and  from  which  he 
drew  the  nutriment  of  his  riper  years.  Its  old  con- 
tents and  character  are  all  here.  It  still  retains  its 
ineffaceable  stamp  of  truth,  holiness  and  majesty, 
rightly  representing  Him  from  whom  it  has  come 
and  appealing  to  whatever  is  deepest  and  most  imi- 
versal  in  our  nature.  It  is  the  voice  of  God  in  the 
language  of  men. 

Y.  Simplicity  of  Style. — The  interest  of  the  gen- 
eral body  of  English  readers  has  been  kept  in  view 
from  the  beginning,  and  has  controlled  the  decision 
of  many  a  vexed  question.  It  is  said  of  the  returned 
exiles  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah  (Neh.  viii.  8)  that 
the  Levites  met  the  assembled  people  in  Jerusalem, 
and  they  "  read  in  the  book,  in  the  law  of  God,  dis- 
tinctly ;  and  they  gave  the  sense  so  that  they  under- 
stood the  reading. "  This  seems  to  imply  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  sacred  words  on  the  part  of  Ezra  and  his 
associates,  and  so  far  as  that  is  concerned  the  revisers 
were  careful  not  to  imitate  them.  They  drew  the 
line  as  accurately  as  possible  between  interpretation 
and  translation.  The  former  made  no  part  of  their 
work,  while  the  latter  was  their  fixed  aim.  And  so 
far  as  the  business  of  Ezra  was  to  make  the  people 


THE    METHOD    OF   THE    KEVISIO  57 

who  had  become  more  familiar  with  Aramaic  tlian 
with  Hebrew,  understand  what  the  hving  oracles 
said,  it  furnishes  the  model  followed  bj  the  authors 
of  the  revision.  Thej  did  not  seek  to  please  the 
learned  or  cultivated  classes,  but  to  meet  the  wants 
of  plain  people  of  average  intelligence  and  education, 
by  making  the  version  such  that  its  meaning  would 
b^  obvious  to  any  attentive  reader.  They  had  before 
them  an  admirable  standard  in  the  work  of  the  schol- 
ars whom  King  James  called  together,  excepting  so 
far  as  the  progress  of  the  language  has  modified  the 
signification  of  many  words  ;  and  the  constant  en- 
deavor was  to  assimilate  new  renderino^s  to  those 
already  in  existence.  They  wished  to  make  the  book 
smooth,  flowing  and  rhythmical,  but,  above  all,  per- 
spicuous and  plain.  This  is  the  first  requisite  of  a 
translation,  that  for  the  lack  of  which  there  is  and  can 
be  no  compensation.  Obscure,  ambiguous  renderings, 
or  such  as  are  couched  in  words  not  in  ordinary  use, 
are  utter  failures.  The  ordinary  reader  might  just 
as  well  be  left  to  the  original  Hebrew,  for  it  would 
teach  him  as  much  as  a  version  clothed  in  words  and 
phrases  and  idioms  not  in  familiar  use. 

Yet  the  other  extreme  of  adopting  a  phraseology 
inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  the  divine  oracles  is 
to  be  and  for  the  most  part  has  been  carefully  avoided. 
A  signal  instance  of  the  neglect  of  this  caution  is  to 
be  found  in  a  recent  translation  of  the  Psalter  ex- 
ecuted by  an  eminent  British  scholar.  And  it  is 
found  just  where  one  would  least  expect  it,  in  the 
23d  Psalm,  an  ode  which  for  beauty  of  sentiment 
and  felicity  of  illustration  is  not  to  be  matched  in  all 


58  OLD   TESTAMEN-T   REVISIONS. 

literature.  For  thousands  of  years  it  has  gone  to  the 
depths  of  the  hnman  heart,  gladdening  the  house  of 
bereavement  and  sorrow  and  whispering  hope  and 
jov  to  the  downcast  and  forsaken.  In  our  common 
Enorlish  version  it  has  fallen  upon  the  ears  of  men 
like  a  strain  of  exquisite  music,  and  proved  a  precious 
cordial  amid  the  shadows  of  the  dark  valley.  Many 
vears  ago  one  of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  of 
this  country,  as  he  lay  npon  the  bed  from  which  he 
knew  that  he  could  never  arise,  asked  again  and  again 
that  this  soothing  ntterance  might  be  repeated  in  liis 
hearing.  At  the  same  time  in  another  State  a  poor 
uneducated  negro  lad,  who  was  told  that  he  was  draw- 
ing near  to  the  gates  of  the  grave,  heard  from  the 
lips  of  the  only  relative  that  was  near  him  the  same 
old  Psalm.  ^'  Oh,  sister,  read  that  again,"  was  his 
repeated  request,  as  liis  ear  caught  the  simple,  touch- 
ing words.  These  two  persons,  representing  the  re- 
motest extremes  that  can  be  imagined,  in  age,  posi- 
tion, cultme  and  ability,  yet  found  an  equally  satis- 
fying and  uplifting  solace  in  the  same  blessed  words. 
One  may  well  doubt  if  there  is  any  portion  of  the 
Old  Testament  or  the  Xew  that  is  so  endeared  to 
millions  of  devout  hearts  as  this.  Yet  the  learned 
scholar  referred  to  translates  the  second  and  third 
verses  thus  : 

He  refreshes  my  soul  ; 

He  leads  me  in  the  right  tracks  for  His  name's  sake. 

Yea,  thcugh  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  deadly  shade, 

I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me  ; 

Thv  club  and  thv  staff  they  comfort  me. 


THE   METHOD   OF   THE   REVISION.  59 

Of  course  the  thought  of  the  original  is  all  here, 
but  how  unspeakably  has  it  been  debased  and  vulgar- 
ized by  the  change  of  '' paths  "  into  *' tracks,"  of 
*^  the  shadow  of  death  "  into  '^  deadly  shade,*'  and, 
worse  than  all,  of  ^^  rod  "  into  ''  club."  The  music 
of  the  song  lias  evaporated,  its  suggestiveness  is  mar- 
red, and  the  ill-chosen  substitutes  jar  upon  sense  and 
feeling.  The  revisers  have  industriously  sought  to 
avoid  any  such  gross  error  as  this,  and  have  often 
preferred  to  leave  untouched  a  slightly  inadequate 
rendering  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  offending  sacred 
associations  or  introducing  nnseemly  words  or  phrases. 
Upon  the  whole,  if  they  have  succeeded  in  making 
an  approximation  to  the  end  they  had  in  view,  there 
is  reason  to  anticipate  some  very  good  results  from 
their  labors.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  Old  Testament  has  been  a  sealed 
book  to  a  multitude  of  readers,  including  many  who 
are  in  full  sympathy  with  the  revelation  of  which  it 
forms  a  part.  They  say  that  notwithstanding  the 
clearness  and  brilliancy  of  certain  passages  of  the 
latter  half  of  the  volume,  yet  they  find  that,  as  a 
whole,  it  is  obscure.  The  connection  is  not  obvious, 
the  progress  of  thought  is  hardly  to  be  traced,  and 
they  often  fail  to  catch  the  full  sense  of  the  writer. 
The  splendor  of  the  luminous  portions  only  makes 
the  darkness  of  the  rest  more  dense  and  depressing. 
Isow,  it  is  true  that  much  of  this  evil  is  due  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  case.  Prophetical  utterances 
are  occasional  in  character  and  yet  often  separated 
from  the  occasions  which  called  them  forth  ;  when 


60  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION?'. 

tliej  are  strictly  predictive,  tliej  are  necessarily  some- 
what veiled  ;  and  not  nnfrequently  there  is  need  of 
considerable  information  from  other  sources  in  order 
to  see  their  precise  scope  and  bearing.  These  diffi- 
culties are  insuperable  to  the  translator  however  able 
or  accomplished.  It  is  not  conceivable  that  any 
amount  of  effort  or  skill  can  make  the  prophecies  of 
the  Old  Testament  as  easily  and  quickly  understood 
by  all  readers  as  the  Gospels  of  the  New.  Still 
much  may  be  done  by  removing  all  difficulties  not 
inherent  in  the  writings  themselves,  by  making  the 
paragraph  divisions  correspond  to  the  sense  of  the 
author,  by  correcting  gross  errors  of  translation,  by 
carefully  observing  the  tense  forms  of  the  verbs,  by 
distinguishing  proper  names  when  they  occur,  and, 
in  general,  by  making  prominent  such  notes  of  con- 
nection or  hints  of  transition  as  present  themselves. 
All  this  has  been  kept  steadily  in  view,  and  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  anticipate  that  careful  English  readers  will 
find  the  Revised  Version  from  Isaiah  to  JVlalachi 
freed  from  many  obscurities  and  much  more  readily 
comprehensible  than  the  common  version.  What 
seemed  to  be  disjecta  memhra  will  take  their  place 
as  living  parts  of  an  organic  whole,  and  the  acknowl- 
edged gems  of  prophecy  will  shine  the  brighter  from 
being  displayed  in  their  appropriate  setting. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE  TEXT  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

The  text  of  the  Old  Testament  is  in  a  very  differ- 
ent condition  from  tliat  of  the  New.  The  latter  is 
to  be  obtained  from  a  great  variety  of  documentary 
sources,  manuscripts,  versions  and  patristic  quota- 
tions, the  collation  and  arrangement  of  which  has 
gradually  grown  into  the  science  of  textual  criti- 
cism. The  number  of  these  documents  is  very  great. 
As  Tischendorf  justly  said,  "In  all  classical  htera- 
ture  there  is  nothing  which  may  even  distantly  be 
compared  in  riches  with  the  textual  sources  of  the 
[New  Testament."  In  consequence  of  this  fact  there 
are  found  to  be  various  readings  in  vast  numbers,  a 
circumstance  which  once  occasioned  great  alarm 
among  the  iinlearned.  But  now  that  fear  has  been 
dispelled.  The  variations  of  text  do  not  affect  any- 
thing essential  in  our  common  Christianity.  They 
are  rather  a  pledge  of  the  general  integrity  of  the 
text,  so  that  Westcott  and  Hort  say  with  entire 
truth,  '^  In  the  variety  and  fulness  of  the  evidence 
on  which  it  rests,  the  text  of  the  New  Testament 
stands  absolutely  and  unapproachably  alone  among 
ancient  prose  writings."  These  readings  furnish  an 
aid  which  would  be  gladly  welcomed  by  the  editor  of 


62  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

any  of  the  ancient  Greek  classics.  But  wlille  this  Is 
true,  it  Is  also  certain  that  the  variations  largely  In- 
crease the  labor  of  the  translators  or  revisers  of  the 
Kew  Testament.  Before  they  begin  the  work  of 
rendering  they  must  first  ascertain  what  it  is  that 
they  are  to  render.  And  this  is  a  very  laborious 
task,  one  the  performance  of  which  requires  very 
great  learning,  patience,  acumen  and  tact.  And 
we  may  well  suppose  that  the  authors  of  the  recent 
revision  spent  as  much  time  in  settling  the  dlificult 
questions  of  the  text  upon  which  they  labored  as  they 
did  In  determining  its  meaning,  and  fixing  upon  the 
best  method  of  conveying  that  meaning  In  racy,  idio- 
matic English. 

The  case  was  far  otherwise  with  the  company 
charged  with  the  revision  of  the  Old  Testament,  l^o 
such  wealth  of  resources  for  ascertaining  the  original 
form  of  the  Hebrew  text  exists.  The  main  reliance  of 
the  critic  and  expositor  is  upon  the  Massorah,  the 
technical  name  given  to  a  collection  of  grammatlco- 
crltical  notes  on  the  Hebrew  text  with  the  design  of 
determining  its  divisions,  grammatical  forms,  letters, 
vowel-marks  and  accents.  Such  a  work  as  this  was 
rendered  necessary  by  the  fact  that  originally  the  He- 
brew, like  the  other  Semitic  languages,  was  written 
with  the  consonants  alone  and  without  separation  be- 
tween the  words.  Hence  It  was  a  delicate  and  diffi- 
cult task  to  determine  what  vowels  should  be  em- 
ployed In  any  particular  case,  and  where  the  stops 
and  accents  should  be  inserted.  This,  however,  was 
accomplished,  although  the  authors  of  the  work  and 


THE   TEXT   OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.  63 

tlie  time  of  their  action  are  shrouded  in  obscurity. 
There  can  hardlj  be  a  doubt  that  the  Massorah  was 
the  work  not  of  one  century  but  of  many  centuries. 
The  old  Eabbins  were  inclined  to  attribute  it  to  Ezra 
and  the  Men  of  the  Great  Synagogue,  but  the  more 
usual  opinion  assigns  its  commencement  to  the  schools 
that  were  established  at  Tiberias  and  Babylon  and 
elsewhere  in  the  second  century  of  our  era.  It  ex- 
isted only  in  the  form  of  oral  tradition  until  at  some 
period  between  the  sixth  century  and  the  ninth  it 
Tvas  committed  to  writing.  It  first  took  the  shape 
of  marginal  notes  on  the  copies  of  the  sacred  books. 
These  gradually  expanded  into  a  very  minute  and 
comprehensive  system.  A  full  record  of  these  an- 
notations and  glosses  was  given  in  the  '^  Great  Mas- 
sorah," which  appeared  about  the  eleventh  century, 
and  is  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  another  collec- 
tion of  notes,  known  as  the  ''  Small  Massorah." 
AYhile  much  of  what  is  contained  in  the  Massorah  is 
nothing  but  laborious  trifling,  yet  quite  apart  from 
this  there  is  much  that  is  of  very  great  use  to  the 
critical  student.  The  authors  have  sometimes  been 
cliarged  with  corruj)ting  the  sacred  text,  but  for  this 
there  seems  to  be  no  solid  foundation.  They  do  not 
appear  to  have  introduced  anything  of  their  own, 
but  rather  to  have  made  a  careful  distinction  between 
what  they  found  in  the  manuscripts  and  wdiat  they 
proposed  to  substitute.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
they  have  thus  preserved  to  us  much  traditional  in- 
formation of  the  highest  value.  In  the  w^ords  of 
the  learned  professor,  E.  C.  Bissell,  D.D.,   '^  There 


64  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISrON". 

ouoflit  to  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  text  which  we  in- 

o 

herit  from  the  Massoretes,  and  they  from  the  Tahnud- 
ists,  and  they  in  turn  from  a  period  w^ien  versions 
and  paraphrases  of  the  Scriptures  in  other  lano^iiages 
now  accessible  to  us  were  in  common  use — the  same 
text  being  transmitted  to  this  period  from  the  time 
of  Ezra  under  the  pecuharly  sacred  seal  of  the  Jew- 
ish canon — we  have  a  substantially  correct  copy  of 
the  original  documents,  and  one  worthy  of  all  con- 
fidence." 

The  chief  portion  of  the  results  reached  by  the 
Massoretes  is  given  in  the  foot-notes  of  the  ordinary 
Hebrew  Bibles.  What  is  found  in  the  text  is  called 
Kethib  (written),  what  is  added  as  a  various  reading 
is  called  Keri  (read).  The  number  of  these  various 
readings  has  been  variously  estimated.  The  gr  t 
Jewish  scholar,  Elias  Levita  (1471-15^9),  said  that, 
after  repeated  countings,  he  found  them  to  be  848, 
but  the  eminent  Hebraist  of  our  own  day,  Dr.  Gins- 
burg,  makes  the  number  to  be  1353.  Yery  many  of 
them  are  merely  orthographical,  and  have  no  bear- 
ing upon  the  sense  of  the  original.  Of  others,  how- 
ever, the  reverse  is  true,  a  conspicuous  example  of 
which  is  seen  in  Isaiah  ix.  3,  *'  Thou  hast  multiplied 
the  nation,  and  not  increased  the  joy."  Here  the 
word  in  the  Kethib,  justly  rendered  7iot,  disturbs  the 
sense  and  the  connection.  The  Keri  by  the  change 
of  a  single  letter  transforms  the  negative  particle  into 
a  personal  pronoun,  and  then  the  verse  runs  thus  : 
''Thou  hast  multiplied  the  nation,  thou  hast  in- 
creased their  joy  :  they  joy  before  thee  according  to 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.       65 

the  joy  of  the  har\rest,"  etc.  The  same  verse  shows 
by  contrast  the  care  and  scrupulousness  of  the  Mas- 
soretes,  for  in  the  first  clause  certain  modern  critics 
without  any  authority  change  the  word  rendered 
nation  into  one  that  means  gladness^  in  order  that 
thus  the  parallelism  may  be  made  symmetrical  ;  and 
a  recent  English  expositor  of  Isaiah  adopts  the  sug- 
gestion. But  this  is  pure  conjecture  and  wholly 
without  warrant.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  old 
Jewish  transcribers  of  the  text  ever  allowed  them- 
selves any  snch  license.  The  word  MassoraJt  means 
*' tradition,"  and  exactly  describes  the  work  done. 
All  the  traditional  marks  and  divisions  of  the  sacred 
text,  all  the  recognized  though  unwritten  helps  to  its 
understanding,  and  the  pronunciation  which  had  been 
handed  down,  were  recorded  by  the  Massoretes  in  a 
fixed  and  official  form.  They  depended  upon  the 
existent  materials  and  built  upon  them.  That  they 
dealt  honestly  with  the  word  is  unquestionable.  We 
know  that  from  a  very  early  period  the  strictest  rules 
were  enjoined  upon  copyists,  and  it  was  easy  to  secure 
compliance  with  them,  for  the  Talmudists  made  an 
exact  enumeration  of  the  verses,  words  and  letters 
of  each  book,  and  designated  the  middle  verse,  word 
and  letter  of  the  book.  And  even  in  cases  where 
there  was  an  evident  and  trivial  mistake — a  letter 
slightly  out  of  place,  or  upside  down,  or  too  small, 
or  too  large,  or  a  variation  in  the  writing  of  a  word — 
the  fact  was  noted,  but  no  change  was  made  in  the 
text.  That  was  handed  down  just  as  it  had  been 
received.     Jerome  (ob.  420)  in  his  Latin  translation 


Q6  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

corrects  renderings  of  the  Septuagint,  and  gives  a 
faithful  representation  of  the  Hebrew  as  it  was  then 
received  in  Palestine,  jet  a  faithful  comparison  of 
his  work  with  the  text  now  in  use  shows  no  mate- 
rial differences  either  in  addition  or  omission.  It 
would  seem  then  that  the  modern  Israelite  might  re- 
peat the  boast  of  Josephus  in  regard  to  the  sacred 
books  of  his  nation  that  "  during  so  many  ages  as 
have  already  passed  no  one  has  been  so  bold  as  either 
to  add  anything  to  them,  to  take  any  tiling  from 
them,  or  to  make  any  change  in  them."  For  fifteen 
centuries  at  least  the  Jews  regarded  it  as  a  religious 
duty  to  preserve  with  all  exactness  the  sacred  records 
of  their  faith  and  history.  "  When  the  Hebrew 
language  was  unknown  by  Christians,"  as  Professor 
Osgood  justly  says,  ''  w^hen  the  Jew  was  under  the 
harrow  of  unresting  persecution  and  his  name  a  by- 
word, he  was  w^ith  patient  fidelity  keeping  watch 
over  the  text,  unknown  to  all  but  himself,  and  pre- 
serving a  priceless  inheritance  for  the  coming  cen- 
turies." 

It  is  not  to  the  credit  of  Christian  scholarship  that 
so  little  has  been  done  during  the  last  three  hundred 
years  toward  reproducing  the  Massorah  in  its  com- 
pleteness. But  the  reproach  has  been  in  measure 
rolled  away  by  the  work  of  Dr.  Ginsburg,  issued  in 
London  within  a  few  years.  This  is  entitled,  "  The 
Massorah  :  Compiled  from  Manuscripts  Alphabeti- 
cally and  Lexically  Arranged,"  and  is  in  two  folio 
volumes,  the  first  of  which  (pp.  758)  appeared  in 
1880,  and  the  second  (pp.  830)  in  1883.     These  con- 


THE  TEXT   OF  THE   OLD  TESTAMENT.  67 

tain  tlie  entire  Hebrew  text.  A  third  volume  will 
furnish  an  English  translation  of  the  terms  employed, 
and  an  essay  on  the  rise  and  history  of  the  Massorah. 
This  great  work  cannot  fail  to  be  of  immense  service 
in  stimulating  the  studj  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  okl  Jewish  critics  and  scholars. 

The  present  Hebrew  text,  as  now  found  in  the 
best  editions  of  the  Old  Testament,  is  a  reprint,  with 
few  and  slight  exceptions,  of  the  text  edited  by  Jew- 
ish scholars  and  published  by  Eomberg,  at  Venice, 
in  1525,  and  afterward,  with  corrections,  in  15i7. 
This  Bible  was  accompanied  by  Rabbinic  commen- 
taries and  was  designed  for  the  use  of  the  Jews,  since 
few  Christians  at  that  day  w^ere  acquainted  with 
classic  Hebrew,  and  still  fewer  with  Rabbinic.  This 
text  enjoys  the  great  advantage  of  being  acknowl- 
edged by  Jews  and  Christians  alike.  That  it  is 
worthy  of  great  confidence  is  the  united  testimony  of 
critics,  and  especially  of  the  latest  and  most  learned 
of  them,  Prof.  H.  L.  Strack,  of  Berlin.  It  is  not 
known  what  manuscripts  or  how  many  of  them 
were  used  by  the  editors,  but  they  were  all  doubtless 
of  a  late  date,  written  under  the  strict  rule  of  the 
Talmud  and  accompanied  with  the  various  readings 
of  the  Massoretes.  The  principal  editor,  Jacob  ben 
Chayim,  is  known  to  have  been  thoroughly  skilled 
in  all  that  pertained  to  the  text,  and  as  reverent  as 
he  was  learned.  That  there  are  passages  where  the 
text  has  suffered  from  wrong  transcription,  where 
there  are  insuperable  difficulties  or  slight  mistakes, 
where  manuscripts  difl'er,  and  versions  give  a  render- 


68  OLD  TESTAMENT   REYISION". 

ing  at  variance  with  the  Hebrew,  is  well  known  to 
every  scholar.  Indeed,  it  could  not  be  otherwise. 
Notwithstanding  we  have  the  printing-press,  and 
numerous  Bible  societies  and  multitudes  of  critical 
readers,  the  Authorized  Version  has  bj  no  means 
preserved  one  and  the  same  text  in  all  the  editions, 
but  has  again  and  again  required  the  most  thorough 
revision.  Much  more  was  such  a  thing  to  be  looked 
for  in  manuscripts  written,  as  these  were,  centuries 
apart.  But  the  places  where  error  has  crept  in  are 
by  no  means  so  numerous  as  has  sometimes  been 
asserted.  Dr.  Samuel  Davidson,  in  his  ''  Revision 
of  the  Hebrew  Text,"  cites  between  seven  and  eight 
thousand  places  where  there  are  variations  either  in 
the  manuscripts  or  the  versions.  These  changes,  for 
the  most  part,  refer  to  the  different  modes  of  writing 
or  accentuating  the  same  word,  and  they  include  all 
the  marginal  notes  of  the  Jewish  mediaeval  scholars. 
But  the  number  compares  very  favorably  with  those 
of  the  Greek  Scriptures.  The  Old  Testament  con- 
tains more  than  three  times  as  much  matter  as  the 
New,  yet  even  if  we  rate  the  various  readings  of  the 
Hebrew  at  ten  thousand,  this  is  only  one  fifteenth  of 
the  number  found  in  the  manuscripts  of  the  New 
Testament.  But  the  same  abatement  for  all  practical 
purposes  has  to  be  made  in  both.  The  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  variations  of  the  Greek  text 
dwindle  down  to  a  very  small  number  when  one 
eliminates  all  that  do  not  affect  the  sense,  and  the 
same  thing  is  true  iu  regard  to  the  Hebrew  text. 
All  the  extant  MSS.  perpetuate   the    Massoretic 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMEN^T.       69 

text.  Tliey  are  divided  into  two  classes,  tlie  public 
or  holj,  and  the  private  or  common.  The  former 
are  synagogue  rolls  which  have  been  prepared  so 
carefully  that  the  possibility  of  error  has  been  re- 
duced to  a  minimum.  But  they  contain  only  the 
Pentateuch,  or  also  the  five  Megilloth  (Canticles, 
Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes,  Esther)  and  the 
Ilaphtaroth  (lessons  from  the  Prophets),  and  they 
give  only  the  text  of  the  Massoretes  without  their  mar- 
ginal additionp.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  re- 
cent origin,  though  antique  in  form.  The  latter  class 
contain  the  entire  Scripture,  together  with  the  Mas- 
soretic  emendations.  Dillman  says,  that,  as  a  general 
thing,  the  consonantal  text,  the  points,  the  Keris^  and 
other  additions,  frequently  including  translations  and 
Pabbinical  commentary,  are  written  by  different 
hands.  Hence  it  is  often  difficult,  and  indeed  im- 
possible, to  determine  the  date  and  nationality  of  a 
codex,  but  it  seems  certain  that  none  of  the  manu- 
scripts now  known  are  really  very  old.  The  oldest 
authentic  date  is  a.d.  916  for  a  codex  of  the  Proph- 
ets, and  A.D.  1009  for  an  entire  Hebrew  Bible. 
Both  of  these  are  preserved  in  the  Imperial  Library 
at  St.  Petersburg.  The  collation  of  existing  codices 
has  been  carried  on  with  great  industry  for  a  long 
time.  The  labors  of  Kennicott  and  De  Possi  in  the 
last  century  were  herculean,  yet  they  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  establishing  beyond  controversy  among  critics 
any  material  change  in  the  old  text.  They  added 
little  to  what  was  known  before.  In  this  century 
Frankel,  Frensdorf,  Pinsker,  Strack,  and  others  have 


70  OLD  TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

broiiglit  out  a  greater  number  of  tlie  diversities 
marked  by  the  early  Jewish  scholars,  yet  in  the  main 
their  efforts  have  resulted  only  in  a  negative  conclu- 
sion— viz.,  that  we  are  not  to  expect  much  additional 
light  from  any  further  collation  of  MSS.  We  may 
indeed  anticipate  some  help  in  the  reconstruction  of 
passages  which  seem  to  have  experienced  corruption, 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  any  sweeping 
changes  will  be  found  necessary. 

There  is  another  source  of  correction  which  by 
some  has  been  used  and  commended  as  trustworthy 
and  as  promising  important  advantages.  This  is  the 
early  versions.  The  oldest  of  these  are  the  Tar- 
gums,  which  are  supposed  to  owe  their  origin  to  the 
disuse  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  by  the  exiles  in  Baby- 
lon (Nell.  viii.  8).  They  were  at  first,  and  for  many 
years,  oral.  As  might  be  expected,  they  are  usually 
paraphrases,  in  which  the  ideas  of  the  translator  are 
more  followed  than  those  of  the  original  writer.  No 
one  of  those  now  existing  extends  over  the  whole 
Old  Testament,  although  together  they  do,  with  the 
exception  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  The  two  oldest 
of  these  are  that  of  Onkelos  on  the  Pentateuch  and 
that  of  Jonathan  ben  Uziel  on  the  Earlier  Prophets 
and  the  Later.  The  former,  whose  author  was  a 
friend  of  Gamaliel  and  lived  about  a.d.  70,  is  gener- 
ally correct,  and  follows  the  text  closely,  being  free 
from  the  fabulous  additions  that  mar  other  Targums. 
The  latter  proceeded  from  a  man  who,  according  to 
tradition,  was  a  discij^le  of  the  famous  HilleL  He 
was  a  century  later  than  Onkelos,  and  his  work  is 


THE  TEXT   OF  THE   OLD  TESTAMENT.  71 

more  paraphrastic  and  less  simple.  There  are  two 
other  Tar«i-nuis  on  tlie  Pentateuch  (Psendo-Jonatlian 
and  Jenisliahni),  but  they  are  decidedly  later  than 
the  foregoing  and  much  less  valual)le.  On  the 
Hagiographa  there  exist  what  are  called  the  Tar- 
gums  of  Joseph  the  Blind.  Tradition  assigned  these 
to  a  person  so  named  who  lived  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, but  critical  study  has  put  their  date  in  the 
eleventh  century.  They  are  various  in  origin,  and, 
excepting  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  are  extremely 
paraphrastic  and  fanciful. 

The  oldest  Greek  version  of  the  Ileln-ew  Scriptures 
is  the  one  known  as  the  Septuagint,  a  name  derived 
from  the  worthless  tradition  that  it  was  made  by  a 
company  of  seventy  Jews  at  the  request  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  who  was  gathering  a  library.  The 
truth  about  its  origin  is  that  Alexandria  became  after 
the  Dispersion  a  centre  of  Jewish  population  and 
afterward  of  religion  ;  but  as  time  went  on  the  Jews 
lost  command  of  their  own  language  and  therefore 
required  a  translation  of  their  sacred  books  into 
Greek.  The  men  who  met  this  want  differed  very 
much  in  knowledge  and  skill,  were  of  an  indetermi- 
nate number,  and  of  different  periods,  beginning  with 
the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (b.c.  280)  and 
terminating  with  b.c.  150.  The  translators  were 
chiefly  of  Egyptian,  and  particularly  Alexandrian, 
birth  and  training,  and  therefore  strongly  Hellen- 
istic. Their  work  is  quite  unequal,  the  Pentateuch 
being  very  literal  and  faitliful,  while  the  Prophets 
and   the   Hagiographa  are  handled   in   a  somewhat 


72  OLD   TESTAMENT  KEVISION". 

arbitrary  manner.  The  study  of  it  is  indispensable 
to  the  expositor,  because  its  idiom  became  the  idiom 
of  the  New  Testament  in  a  more  fully  developed 
form,  and  no  one  can  thoroughly  understand  Hellen- 
istic Greek  without  carefully  studying  its  original 
model.  Besides  the  Septuagint  there  were  three  other 
Greek  versions,  of  which  only  fragments  remain.  (1) 
The  chief  of  these  is  the  one  bearing  the  name  of 
Aquila,  a  Jewish  proselyte  of  Pontus,  a  contemporary 
of  Hadrian  (about  a.d.  130),  who  prepared  a  literal 
translation  for  the  benefit  of  Jews  in  controversy  with 
Christians.  It  was  so  successful  that  it  came  to  be 
used,  by  both  Jews  and  Christians.  It  was  slavishly 
literal,  and  the  author,  in  his  endeavor  to  present  a 
word-for-word  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  into  the 
Greek,  goes  to  the  extent  of  the  boldest  word-coin- 
ing and  grammatical  absurdities.  (2)  Theodotion,  a 
Jewish  proselyte  of  Ephesns,  revised  (before  a.d. 
160)  the  translation  of  the  LXX.  instead  of  making  a 
new  one.  His  alterations  were  derived  partly  from 
Aquila  and  partly  from  the  original  text.  But  his 
own  knowledge  of  Hebrew  was  limited,  for  words 
and  parts  of  sentences  were  left  untranslated,  the 
Hebrew  being  merely  written  with  Greek  letters. 
There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  this  version  was 
much  used  by  the  early  Christians,  and  its  rendering 
of  the  Book  of  Daniel  was  substituted  for  that  of 
the  Septuagint  as  early  as  the  third  century.  The 
same  substitution  is  found  in  most  of  the  editions  of 
the  LXX.  (3)  Symmachus,  a  Samaritan  Ebionite, 
who  lived  under  the  Emperor  Severus  (a.d.  193-211), 


THE   TEXT    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.  73 

made  a  version  intended  to  slum  tlie  unintelligible 
boldness  of  Aquila  and  the  ignorant  transliterations 
of  Theodotion.  He  succeeded  so  far  as  to  produce 
a  work  better  than  the  others  as  to  sense  and  general 
phraseology.  His  translation  is  distinguished  for 
clearness  and  elegance,  but  is  paraphrastic  and  occa- 
sionally arbitrary.  There  were  three  other  Greek 
versions,  of  unknown  date  and  authorship,  discov^- 
eredby  Origen,  in  the  course  of  his  travels,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  great  work  of  Biblical  Criticism,  but 
the  few  fragments  of  them  that  remain  are  of  little 
or  no  value. 

The  only  other  early  version  of  importance  is  the 
Syriac,  commonly  called  the  Peshitto  (the  correct  or 
simple)^  because  confined  to  tlie  text,  in  contrast  to 
the  allegorical  or  mystical  paraphrases.  The  first 
trustworthy  reference  to  its  use  is  found  in  the  com- 
mentaries of  Ephrem  the  Syrian  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, but  even  then  it  was  ancient,  for  Ephrem  de- 
fines many  of  its  words  which  were  no  longer  under- 
stood by  his  countrymen.  Hence  it  is  not  improb- 
ably assigned  to  the  second  century.  It  was  made 
from  the  Hebrew  probably  by  Jewish  Christians, 
and  includes  the  Old  Testament  canon  without  the 
Apocrypha.     It  is,  in  general,  close  and  accurate. 

It  has  been  proposed  by  some  scholars  to  use  these 
various  versions  to  determine  the  Hebrew  text  in 
cases  where  the  reading  is  obscure  or  doubtful.  But 
such  a  course  is  to  be  followed  with  very  great  cau- 
tion. From  all  that  we  know  of  the  origin  and  his- 
tory of  the  Hebrew  text,  the  presumption  is  over- 


?4  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

wlielming  in  favor  of  its  accuracy  as  against  any 
version.  While  we  adhere  to  it  we  are  standing  on 
solid  ground,  but  as  soon  as  we  leave  it  the  footing 
becomes  uncertain  and  precarious.  Besides,  not  one 
of  the  versions  which  have  been  mentioned  has  been 
submitted  to  a  thorough  critical  revision,  so  that  we 
are  not  sure  as  to  their  text  in  any  given  case.  Even 
of  the  Septuagint,  upon  which  so  many  have  labored 
for  a  century  past,  we  have  no  critical  edition,  none 
in  which  all  the  existing  materials  for  settling  the 
text  have  been  applied  for  that  purpose.  But  before 
an  entirely  trustworthy  edition  can  be  prepared  an 
immense  work  must  be  done  in  collating  MSS., 
both  uncial  and  cursive,  the  ancient  versions  (Old 
Latin,  Ethiopic,  etc.)  made  from  them,  and  the  quo- 
tations in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers.  And  if  this 
be  true  of  the  Septuagint,  much  more  does  it  apply 
to  the  Chaldee  and  other  versions.  To  correct  the 
Hebrew,  then,  on  this  basis  would  be  to  amend  what 
is  uncertain  by  that  which  is  still  more  uncertain. 
Hence  the  more  sober  critics  with  one  consent  hold 
fast  the  Massoretic  text.  This  has  been  the  rule  with 
the  authors  of  the  present  revision.  Their  work  is 
based  throughout  ujDon  the  traditional  Hebrew.  In 
ditficult  or  doubtful  ]3laces,  where  some  corruption 
seems  to  have  crept  in  or  some  accident  to  have  be- 
fallen the  manuscript,  the  testimony  of  the  early  ver- 
sions is  given  in  the  margin,  but  never  incorporated 
with  the  text.  That  remains  intact.  But  even  this 
reference  to  secondary  sources  was  unacceptable  to 
the  American  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  revisers, 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.       75 

as  may  be  seen  by  their  appendix.  Cf.  Section  YI. 
under  the  heading-  ''  Classes  of  Passages."  It 
seemed  to  them  that  all  these  references  had  in  them 
too  mnch  of  the  uncertain,  conjectural  and  arbitrary 
to  be  entitled  to  a  place  on  the  margin,  as  if  they 
had  some  portion  of  intrinsic  authority.  We  are 
not  sure  in  any  case  that  the  makers  of  these  versions 
did  not  follow  their  notion  of  what  the  text  ought  to 
be  rather  than  that  which  they  found  in  the  codices 
before  them.  And  conjectural  emendations  are  of 
no  value.  Yarious  scholars  in  the  last  century,  such 
as  the  accomplished  Lowth,  and  some  in  the  present 
age,  have  expended  much  labor  in  suggesting  altera- 
tions which  in  their  view  reproduced  the  original 
text,  but  they  convinced  almost  nobody  but  them- 
selves. The  learned  Casaubon  once  said,  in  reference 
to  a  very  acute  suggestion  of  a  contemporary,  "  Tor- 
rentius's  conjecture  is  clever  ;  but  I  cannot  adopt  it 
in  the  teeth  of  all  the  manuscripts,  from  which  I 
never  depart  except  when  absolutely  necessary."  To 
the  same  effect  Rltschl  in  our  own  day  :  "  There  is 
hardly  any  codex  of  any  classical  author  so  bad  that 
it  will  not  occasionally  offer  a  good  reading  which 
will  deserve  more  credit  than  a  conjectural,  even  a 
likely  one."  Both  these  utterances  were  made  in 
reference  to  the  classics,  but  they  have  even  greater 
force  when  applied  to  the  sacred  writings. 

Accordingly  the  reader  will  find  in  the  Revised 
Old  Testament  a  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  manu- 
scripts pure  and  simple,  nothing  but  the  Massoretic 
marginal  readings  being  adopted  into  the  text,  and 


76  OLD   TESTAMENT   liEVlSIOX. 

even  they  only  when  circumstances  seemed  to  justify 
or  require  it.  Undoubtedly  the  day  will  come  when 
the  labor  of  many  earnest  students  in  Europe  and 
America  will  accumulate  such  materials  and  lead  to 
such  a  method  of  handling  them  as  will  throw  light 
upon  many  difficult  passages  and  furnish  a  much  nearer 
approach  to  the  true  original  text  than  we  now  have. 
But  this  is  to  be  the  work  of  years,  possibly  of  gen- 
erations. Meanwhile  it  is  wisest  and  safest  to  ad- 
here to  the  unbroken  tradition  of  the  past,  notwith- 
standing there  are  some  outspoken  dissentients  from 
this  conservative  course.  One  of  the  most  brilliant 
of  American  Biblical  scholars  *  said  a  few  months 
ago  that  '^  we  can  no  more  rely  with  childlike  confi- 
dence upon  the  common  Massoretic  text  for  the  Old 
Testament  than  we  can  upon  the  so-called  received 
text  of  the  New  Testament.  The  New  Testament 
revisers  abandoned  the  received  text  of  the  New 
Testament  for  a  better  text.  If  the  present  revisers 
have  not  sought  a  better  text  of  the  Old  Testament, 
in  our  judgment  they  have  failed  in  their  duty,  and 
tlieir  work  will  not  be  accepted."  But  surely  the 
learned  professor  has  made  a  mistake  here.  It  is 
very  true  that  the  New  Testament  revisers  often  de- 
parted from  the  received  text,  but  never  upon  the 
authority  of  ancient  versions  or  quotations  only. 
Every  alteration  which  they  made  rests  upon  manu- 
script authority,  as  to  which  they  accepted  the  testi- 

*  Prof.  Briggs,  in  the  Preshyterian  Review  for  January,  1885, 
(p.  150). 


"THE   TEXT   OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.  77 

mony  of  the  Syriac,  tlie  Itala  and  others  merely  as 
corroborative.  And  this  has  been  the  rule  adopted 
by  the  Old  Testament  companies.  Nor  would  they 
be  justified  in  taking  any  other  course.  No  canon 
of  criticism  which  exalts  subsidiary  sources  of  knowl- 
edge above  that  which  confessedly  is  direct  and 
primary  will  ever  be  accepted  either  by  "  Biblical 
scholars  "  or  by  the  Christian  public. 


CEAPTEE  IV. 

CHANGES    IN   THE    PENTATEUCH. 

The  first  feature  that  arrests  attention  here  is  the 
printing  of  the  poetical  portions  of  the  Books  of 
Moses  in  the  form  of  verse.  Instances  are  to  be  seen 
not  only  in  the  proj)hetic  blessing  of  the  patriarch 
Jacob  (Gen.  xhx.),  the  song  of  triumph  at  tlie  Red 
Sea  (Ex.  XV.),  the  rapt  utterances  of  Balaam  (Num. 
xxiii.,  xxiv.),  and  the  song  and  the  blessing  of  Moses 
at  the  end  of  his  life  (Deut.  xxxii.,  xxxiii.),  but  also 
in  several  much  shorter  passages— viz.,  the  song  of 
Lamech  (Gen.  iv.),  the  prophecy  of  Noah  (Gen.  ix.), 
the  Lord's  answer  to  Rebecca  (Gen.  xxv.),  the  bless- 
ings pronounced  by  Isaac  (Gen.  xxvi.),  the  song  of 
the  well  (Num.  xxi.)  and  the  abrupt  ode  on  the 
downfall  of  Moab  {ibid.).  To  persons  not  familiar 
with  the  subject  this  at  first  sight  looks  pedantic  and 
unmeaning.  It  is,  however,  very  far  from  being  so. 
The  form  of  these  utterances  shows  that  they  belong 
to  that  poetical  feeling  and  habit  which  pervaded 
the  entire  life  and  history  of  the  Hebrews.  What- 
ever moved  the  heart  of  the  people  was  expressed  in 
song,  whether  it  was  the  discovery  of  a  fountain  in 
the  desert  or  joy  over  some  great  victory.  And  it 
is  desirable  that  the  reader  be  reminded  of  this  fact, 


CHANGES   IK   THE   PENTATEUCH.  79 

lest  he  slioiild  fall  into  error  by  interpreting  poetry 
as  prose.  For  the  laws  of  the  two  kinds  of  compo- 
sition have  essential  differences.  And  though  Hebrew 
poetry  has  neither  rhyme  nor  rhythm,  and  cannot  be 
subjected  to  the  classifications  usual  in  classic  and 
modern  poetry,^  yet  the  poetic  element  is  inwrought 
in  its  very  structure.  Everywhere  and  always  sym- 
metrical clauses  are  placed  side  by  side.  The  sym- 
metry is  not  external  and  formal  but  real,  lying  in 
the  relation  of  the  expression  to  the  thought.  The 
same  thought  is  repeated  several  times  synonymously 
in  different  words,  or  else  antithetically  by  two  op- 
posite sentences.  In  the  more  fully  developed  liter- 
ature of  later  periods  the  parallelism  often  appears 
with  elaborate  and  diversilied  refinements,  bat  the 
brief,  rapid  utterances  of  the  lyrical  spirit  here  record- 
ed introduce  us  directly  into  the  manners  and  habits 
of  the  early  race,  and  show  how  artlessly  deep  feel- 
ing by  a  sort  of  necessity  expressed  itself  in  poetical 
forms.  It  is  well,  therefore,  that  the  correct  method 
of  printing  the  parallel  clauses  should  remind  the 
reader  that  he  is  passing  from  didactic  prose  into 
emotional  and  animated  poetry.  Some  critics,  such  as 
Herder  ("  Spirit  of  Hebrew  Poetry"),  w^ould  extend 
this  practice,  and  print  in  parallelisms  portions  of 
the  ordinary  narrative  of  the  Pentateuch  ;  but  nothing 
seems  to  be  gained  by  such  a  course,  nor  has  it  com- 

*  This  is  the  commonly  accepted  doctrine  on  the  subject. 
Whoever  wishes  to  see  the  contrary  view  set  forth  with  great 
acuteness  and  vigor  may  consult  Prof.  Briggs's  interesting 
volume  on  Biblical  Study  (New  York,  1883),  Chapter  IX. 


80  OLD   TESTAMEXT   REVISIOJ^". 

mended  itself  to  general  acceptance.  The  revision, 
therefore,  has  wisely  confined  the  printing  in  verse 
form  to  those  passages  which  bj  their  origin  as  well 
as  structure  compel  one  to  see  in  them  an  outburst  of 
poetical  feeling. 

The  following  selection  of  passages  which  have 
been  changed  in  the  revision  is  intended  as  a  speci- 
men of  the  work  done  and  of  the  principles  upon 
which  it  has  been  carried  out.  The  selection  has 
been  determined  more  bj  the  brevity  of  the  passages 
t[uoted  or  the  facility  with  which  the  alterations 
made  could  be  stated  and  explained  than  anything 
else.  It  was  desirable  to  cite  enough  cases  to  fur- 
nish a  tolerably  fair  conception  of  the  revisers'  work, 
both  in  amount  and  character.  Yet  in  such  narrow 
limits  the  whole  case  could  not  be  set  forth,  and  the 
reader  is  earnestly  requested  to  bear  this  in  mind. 
The  author  had  for  the  most  part  to  rely  upon 
his  memory  in  stating  the  general  reason  for  the 
action  taken  in  each  particular  case,  and  he  thinks 
that  what  he  states  is  correct,  yet  of  course  errors 
may  have  slipped  in.  This,  however,  is  not  likely, 
because  the  revision  never  contemplated  novelties, 
but  only  a  summing  up  of  the  results  of  criticism 
durina:  the  last  two  centuries. 

Genesis.— In  the  first  chapter  the  putting  of  each 
day's  work  in  a  separate  paragraph  aids  the  common 
reader.  In  iv.  23  the  song  of  Lamech  is  made  more 
intelligible  by  making  the  second  couplet  read. 

For  I  have  slain  a  man  for  wounding  me, 
And  a  young  man  for  bruising  me  : 


CHANGES   IN  THE   PENTATEUCH.  81 

In  xiii.  1  ''  Abraham  went  up  out  of  Egypr  .  .  . 
into  the  South,"  the  printing  of  the  last  word  with 
a  capital  letter  shows  that  it  refers  to  a  definite  region 
(the  Negeb),  and  thus  avoids  the  incongruity  of  the 
Authorized  Version  in  leading  one  to  think  that  the 
patriarch  reached  Palestine  by  goingsouth  from  Egypt. 
In  V.  18  "  the  plain  of  Mamre  which  is  in^Hebron" 
is  changed  to  "  the  oaks  of  Mamre  which  are  in 
Hebron,"  because  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew, 
and  there  is  no  plain  in  Hebron  or  its  vicinity.  (So 
xiv.  13  and  xvili.  1.)  In  xviii.  19,  "  For  I  know  him 
that  he  will  command  his  children  and  his  hoasehold 
after  him"  is  changed  to,-"  For  I  have  known  him, 
to  the  end  that  he  may  command,"  etc.  This  is  ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrew,  which  teaches  that  God's 
reason  for  telling  Abraham  of  His  purpose  to  destroy 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  was  His  previous  knowledge 
of  him,  in  the  intense  sense  the  word  know  often  has 
in  Scripture.  (Amos  iii.  2  :  Galatians  iv.  9.)  In 
xxiv.  2,  "  Abraham  said  to  his  eldest  servant  of  his 
house"  is  made  to  read,  "  Abraham  said  to  his  ser- 
vant, the  elder  of  his  house,"  which  is  what  the  He- 
brew means.  The  change  brings  to  view  an  official 
designation  which  runs  all  through  the  Scripture, 
and  has  endured  to  this  day.  In  xxxiii.  18,  "  And 
Jacob  came  to  Shalem,  a  city  of  Shechem,"  the 
revision  reads,  ''  came  in  peace  to  the  city  of  Shech- 
em," because  no  such  city  as  Shalem  is  known,  and 
the  true  rendering  shows  how  God  fulfilled  Jacob's  re- 
quest (xxviii.  21).  In  the  prophecy  of  Jacob  (Gen. 
xlix.)  are  several  manifest  improvements.     Reuben 


82  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISIOK. 

is  charged  with  being  not  '^  unstable/' but,  as  the 
original  word  means,  ''  boiling  over" — that  is,  im- 
pulsive or  excitable,  which  exactly  describes  his  char- 
acter as  shown  by  his  conduct  on  various  occasions. 
In  the  second  member  of  the  fifth  verse,  ''instru- 
ments of  cruelty  are  in  their  habitations,"  the  margin 
of  the  Authorized  Version,  ''  weapons  of  violence 
are  their  swords,"  is  inserted  in  the  text,  as  being 
both  more  literal  and  more  expressive.  In  the  ninth 
verse,  instead  of  saying  that  Judah  couched  ''  as  an 
old  lion,"  the  revision  returns  to  Tyndale's  more 
accurate  rendering,  "  as  a  lioness."  In  the  tenth 
verse  the  Authorized  Yersion  is  retained,  and  other 
proposed  renderings  put  in  the  margin,  except  that 
''  the  gathering  of  the  people  "  is  changed  into  ''  the 
obedience  of  the  j^eoples."  The  alteration  of  the 
last  word  is  one  which  is  required  scores  of  times, 
since  the  authors  of  the  Authorized  Yersion  never 
recognized  the  plural  of  the  word  "  people,"  save 
in  two  instances  in  the  Apocalypse  (x.  11,  xvii.  15), 
and  therefore  left  the  meaning  ambiguous.  In  the 
case  before  us  the  sense  is  not  merely  that  his  own 
people  should  be  gathered  unto  Shiloh,  but  that 
whole  nations  should  obey  him.  In  vv.  14,  15  the 
more  accurate  rendering  of  the  revision  brings  out 
more  plainly  the  character  of  Issachar  (''  couching 
down  amidst  the  sheepfolds"  instead  of  "  between 
two  burdens  ")  as  one  who  preferred  the  ease  of  a 
subject  state  to  a  struggle  for  liberty  and  independ- 
ence. In  V.  19  Gad's  history  is  distinctly  brought 
to  view  as  a  tribe  which,  although  severely  assailed, 


CHANGES   li^   THE   PENTATEUCH.  83 

shall  resist,  and  routing  the  enemy  shall  harass  his 
rear.     Thus  : 

Gad,  a  troop  shall  press  upon  him  : 
But  he  shall  press  upon  their  heel. 

In  the  prediction  about  Joseph  (vv.  23-25)  the  ob- 
scurity of  the  Authorized  Version  is  alleviated,  but 
the  margin  exhibits  the  smoother  rendering  of  some 
critics  who  remove  the  parenthesis  and  make  tlie 
passage  an  accumulation  of  phrases  (like  the  18th 
Psalm)  descriptive  of  the  author  of  Joseph's  deliver- 
ance, as  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob,  the  covenant 
shepherd,  the  stone  (or  rock-foundation)  of  Israel, 
etc.  In  1.  22  the  fine  antithesis  of  the  original  is 
brought  out  by  rendering  the  verb  which  occurs  in 
both  clauses  in  the  same  way  ;  ' '  y e  meant  evil  against 
me,  but  God  meant  it  for  good." 

Exodus. — In  Exodus  ii.  22  the  awkward  tautology, 
*' a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,"  is  replaced  by  the 
literal  version,  "  a  sojourner  in  a  strange  land."  In 
the  song  of  triumpli  after  passing  the  Red  Sea  (Ex. 
XV.)  the  vividness  and  poetical  grandeur  of  the  lyric 
are  shown  in  the  revision  by  the  change  of  the  past 
tense  into  the  present  in  vv.  5-T,  and  of  the  future 
into  the  past  in  vv.  Itt-IG,  a  change  required  by  the 
original.  In  the  obscure  passage  (Ex.  xvii.  16)  the 
text  retains  the  rendering  of  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion, while  the  margin  gives  the  more  literal  and 
more  generally  accepted  sense  of  the  Hebrew.  "  Be- 
cause there  is  a  hand  (^.6.,  the  hand  of  Amalek) 
against  the  throne  of  the  Lord  [therefore]  the  Lord 


84  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

will  have  war  with  Amalek  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration." In  the  second  commandment  (xx.  5)  the 
sanction  is  made  more  clear  by  a  slight  change,  thus  : 
*'  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil- 
dren, upon  the  third  and  upon  the  fourth  generation 
of  them  that  hate  me."  And  this  is  the  exact  sense 
of  the  original.  The  sixth  command  (v.  13)  is,  after 
the  pattern  of  the  Prayer  Book  and  also  of  the  Author- 
ized Version  in  Matt.  xix.  18,  given  as  "  Thou  shalt 
do  no  murder,"  and  the  same  is  done  at  Deut.  v.  17. 
The  advantage  of  this  rendering  is  that  it  needs  no 
limitation  or  explanation.  To  hill  is  often  lawful 
and  sometimes  a  duty,  but  to  do  murder  is  wrong 
always  and  everj^where. 

In  the  account  of  the  tabernacle  (ch.  xxv.)  shitt'un 
is  replaced  by  acacia ^  crown  by  cornice^  almonds  by 
almond-Mossoms^  and  howls  by  cups  j  and  "  badgers' 
skins"  has  in  the  margin  sealskins — all  changes  in 
the  interest  of  fidelity  and  perspicuity.  Other  alter- 
ations, too  numerous  to  be  denoted  in  detail,  contrib- 
ute to  make  the  account  of  the  construction  more 
intelhgible  to  the  ordinary  reader.  In  xxvii.  21  the 
phrase  "  tabernacle  of  congregation,'^  which  occurs 
more  than  a  hundred  times  afterward,  is  properly 
changed  into  ''tent  of  meeting,"  for  this  tent  was 
not  a  place  where  the  people  met  merely  one  another, 
but  where  they  met  with  God  (see  xxix.  42)  ;  and 
this  fact  gave  it  its  name.  An  acknowledged  error 
is  corrected  in  xxxii.  25,  when,  instead  of  saying  that 
the  people  were  ''naked,"  which  does  not  suit  the 
connection,   the  text  says  that  they  were  "  broken 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PENTATEUCH.  85 

loose,"  which  exactly  expresses  the  unbridled  con- 
dition of  the  sinful  multitude.  So  the  divine  names 
become  more  impressive  when  we  read  in  xxxiv.  6, 
*^  The  Lord,  The  Lord,  a  God  full  of  compassion," 
etc.  In  like  manner  a  peculiarity  of  the  original 
is  represented  in  v.  13,  "  Ye  shall  break  their  im- 
ages and  cut  down  their  groves,"  when  instead  of 
"  groves"  we  read  "  Asherim"  with  margin,  '^  Prob- 
ably the  wooden  symbols  of  the  goddess  Ashtoreth 
which  were  set  up  beside  the  altars  of  Baal."  This 
word  occurs  a  score  of  times  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
is  always  mistranslated  ;  sometimes  to  the  utter  ruin 
of  the  sense.  In  v.  33,  ''  And  till  Moses  had  done 
speaking  with  them  he  put  a  veil  on  his  face,"  a 
gross  error  of  the  Authorized  Version  m  inserting 
the  word  till,  for  which  there  is  no  authority  in  the 
original,  is  removed.  *'  And  Moses  left  off  speaking 
with  them,  and  he  pat  a  veil  on  his  face."  The 
sense  is  that  as  long  as  Moses  was  uttering  the  Lord's 
commands  he  remained  unveiled,  but  when  that 
official  function  ceased  he  resumed  the  veil,  and  took 
it  off  only  when  he  w^ent  in  before  the  Lord  to  speak 
with  Him  (v.  31). 

Leviticus. — Ini.  3  (and  elsewhere,  where  the  same 
Hebrew  phrase  occurs),  instead  of  saying  that  the 
bringer  of  an  oblation  offers  it  ^'  of  his  own  voluntary 
will,"  the  revision  states  correctly  that  he  does  it 
*'  that  he  may  be  accepted  before  the  Lord  ;"  and 
in  V.  16  ''filth"  is  substituted  for  "feathers," 
which  a  bird's  crop  cannot  have.  In  iv.  21  "con- 
gregation "  is  changed  to  "  assembly,"  as  often  else- 


86  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

where,  in  order  to  preserve  a  distinction  between  two 
Hebrew  words  which  are  confounded  in  the  Au- 
thorized Yersion.  In  v.  7  and  elsewhere  ''  trespass 
offering"  is  replaced  by  "  guilt  offering,"  as  more 
faithful  to  the  sense  of  the  original.  A  variety  of 
minor  alterations  is  found  in  this  book  owing  to  the 
advance  in  Bibhcal  knowledge,  which  do  not  require 
special  notice.  One  in  the  16th  chapter  is  an  ex- 
ception, the  substitution  of  "  Azazel''  for  ''  scape- 
goat." The  latter  is  an  impossible  translation,  and 
is  given  up  by  all  critics.  The  former  is  a  trans- 
literation of  the  Hebrew  word,  and  is  inserted  be- 
cause there  is  so  much  doubt  among  the  most  learned 
as  to  its  precise  meaning.  An  alternative  rendering 
in  the  margin,  '' dismissal,"  suggests  the  thought 
that  as  the  two  goats  made  only  one  oblation,  that 
which  was  slain  expressed  the  expiation  of  sins,  and 
that  which  was  dismissed  to  the  wilderness  the  utter 
and  final  removal  of  those  sins.  In  xvii.  11  the  revision 
reads,  ''  For  it  is  the  blood  that  maketh  atonement 
by  reason  of  the  life,"  which  is  at  once  more  faith- 
ful and  more  expressive  than  the  Authorized  Yersion, 
which  renders  the  last  portion  of  the  clause  ^'  atone- 
ment for  the  soul."  In  xix.  17  the  Authorized 
Yersion  reads,  '^thou  shalt  in  anywise  rebuke  thy 
neighbor,  and  not  suffer  sin  upon  him."  The  ob- 
scurity of  the  last  clause  is  removed  in  the  revision 
by  rendering  "  and  not  bear  sin  because  of  him," 
which  teaches  the  important  truth  that  it  is  a  sin  not 
to  give  rebuke  when  it  is  called  for.  In  v.  20 
'^  she  shall  be  scourged  "  is  rej^laced  by  ''  they  shall 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PENTATEUCH.  87 

be  pmiislied,"  sliowing  that  both  participants  in  a 
common  sin  meet  retribution.  In  v.  26  the  am- 
biguous phrase  "observe  times"  is  changed  into 
"practise  augury."  (So  Deut.  xviii.  10,14.)  In 
xxiv.  11  the  Authorized  Version  says  of  a  man  that 
he  "blasphemed  the  name  (^Z*  the  Lord,'' ^  The  re- 
vision is  more  exact,  "blasphemed  the  Name,"  in 
accordance  with  the  emphasis  Scripture  puts  upon 
the  divine  name.     It  is  by  eminence  the  Name. 

Numbers. — In  the  opening  chapters  of  Numbers 
the  paragraph  division  greatly  aids  the  cursory  reader 
in  perceiving  the  enumeration  of  the  tribes  and  their 
order  in  marching  and  encamping,  and  the  divisions 
of  the  Levites.  The  rigid  care  with  wliich  the  sanc- 
tuary was  secured  against  desecration  appears  in  the 
change  made  in  iv.  20  where  the  prohibition  of  the 
Ivohathites  from  going  in  to  see  the  holy  things  is  not 
"  when  they  are  covered,"  as  the  Authorized  Yer- 
sion  has  it,  but  as  the  phrase  means — "  even  for  a 
momeut."  A  single  momentary  glance  is  forbidden. 
In  vii.  39  "  the  voice  of  one  speaking  "  is  changed 
to  "  the  Yoice  speaking,"  which  is  more  hteral  and 
more  vivid.  In  ch.  viii.  3  the  unmeaning  clause 
"  he  lighted  the  lamps  thereof  over  against  the 
candlestick"  (for  the  lamps  were  upon  the  candela- 
brum) is  exchanged  for  "  he  lighted  the  lamps  so  as 
to  give  light  in  iront  of  the  candlestick,"  which  is 
what  was  needed  to  be  done,  and  was  done.  In  xi. 
25  is  an  important  change.  The  Authorized  Version 
says  of  the  seventy  elders  that  "  they  prophesied  and 
did  not  cease,"  whereas  the  true  sense  of  the  last 


88  OLD  TESTAMENT   EEYISIO^^T. 

words  is  that  they  '^  added  not,"  or,  as  the  revision 
puts  it,  "  did  so  no  more."  (The  same  Hebrew  is  so 
given  by  the  Authorized  Version  in  Dent.  v.  22.) 
They  were  not  to  teach,  but  to  rule,  and  their  speak- 
ing by  inspiration  was  a  temporary  gift  to  signalize 
their  entrance  into  office.  In  the  eighth  verse  of  the 
next  chapter  "  apparently  "  is  changed  to  "mani- 
festly," with  an  obvious  gain  in  lucidity.  In  xiii. 
IT  "  mountain  "  is  put  by  the  revision  in  the  plural, 
as  in  V.  29,  for  the  spies  were  to  visit  not  a  single 
mountain,  but  the  entire  hill  country  of  the  land.  In 
the  33d  verse  "  Nephilim"  (which  is  merely  the  He- 
brew word  in  English  letters)  is  substituted  for 
''giants,"  as  in  Gen.  vi.  4,  because  the  meaning  of  the 
word  is  uncertain,  and  the  ordinary  reader  is  as  well 
able  as  the  scholar  to  gather  it  from  the  connection. 
In  this  passage  it  may  as  well  mean  mighty  in  strength 
as  miglity  in  size.  In  xiv.  34  the  unhappy  ren- 
dering which  ascribes  a  "  breach  of  promise"  to 
the  Lord  is  properly  altered  to  "alienation."  In 
xvi.  33  the  change  of  "  houses"  into  "  households" 
is  plainly  required,  since  the  people  had  no  houses  in 
the  wilderness.  (E\^en  the  Authorized  Version  so 
renders  in  Dent.  xi.  6.)  In  xviii.  10  the  revision 
retains  the  odd  rendering  of  the  Authorized  Version  : 
"  In  the  most  holy  place  shalt  thou  eat  thereof,"  yet 
nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  no  food  was  eaten 
in  the  innermost  sanctuary.  Doubtless  the  first 
clause  should  be,  "As  (or  among)  the  most  holy 
things."  In  xxi.  1  "way  of  the  spies"  is  changed 
into   "  way  of  Atharim,"  it  being  more  likely  that 


CHANGES  IN  THE   PENTATEUCH.  89 

the  original  is  a  proper  name  than  an  nnusnal  form 
of  a  common  noun.  In  v.  9  the  healing  of  a  man 
bitten  by  a  serpent  is  said  to  come,  not  simply  when 
he  ^'beheld"  (as  Authorized  Version)  the  serpent 
of  brass,  but  when  he  "looked  unto"  it,  implying 
a  voluntary  and  designed  turning  of  the  eyes  in  that 
direction.  In  cli.  xxi.  the  extract  from  the  book  of 
the  wars  of  the  Lord,  and  the  song  of  the  well,  and 
the  ode  on  the  ov^erthrow  of  Moab  are  properly 
printed  in  parallelisms.  The  same  is  the  case  w^itli 
Balaam's  prophetic  utterances,  clis.  xxiii.,  xxi  v. 
The  change  of  a  "  unicorn"  into  a  "  wild  ox"  dis- 
places a  mythological  creature  for  a  real  animal  well 
known  in  the  East.  The  assertion  that  there  is  ''no 
enchantment  with  Jacob"  is  stronsrer  than  that  of 
the  Authorized  Version  that  there  is  none  "  against" 
him,  inasmuch  as  it  means  that  such  is  Jacob's  pro- 
tection by  his  covenant  God  that  he  has  no  need  of 
divination  or  magic  arts.  The  vague,  ambiguous 
phrase  in  xxiii.  23,  "  according  to  this  time,"  is 
changed  with  much  effect  into  the  single  word 
"Now."  The  alteration  made  in  xxiv.  2,  3,  and 
repeated  in  vv.  15,  16,  representing  the  seer  in  the 
first  instance  with  eyes  closed  and  in  the  second  with 
eyes  opened,  is  quite  agreeable  to  the  original, 
and  at  the  same  time  much  more  poetic  and  strik- 
ing than  the  Authorized  Version,  since  it  convej^s 
the  conception  of  one  whose  bodily  vision  is  closed 
against  all  outward  things,  while  his  inner  sense,  on 
the  contrary,  is  divinely  illumined.  In  xxiv.  17 
"  children  of  Sheth"  is  very  properly  changed  into 


90  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

*' sons  of  tumult" — i.e.^  tumultuous  warriors.  In 
the  same  verse  the  omission  of  the  initial  capital  in 
the  '^  Star  out  of  Jacob"  and  the  '^  Sceptre  out  of 
Israel"  leaves  the  reader  to  decide  for  himself 
whether  these  terms  refer  to  a  divine  or  to  a  human 
personage.  The  brief,  obscure  closing  prophecies  of 
Balaam  respecting  Amalek,  the  Kenite  and  Kittim, 
are  given  with  as  much  clearness  as  a  close  version 
admits.  In  ch.  xxix.  there  occurs  several  times, 
as  often  before,  the  phrase  "  after  the  ordinance," 
which  is  correct  and  much  less  ambiguous  than 
the  wording  of  the  Authorized  Version  "  after  the 
manner."  In  the  description  of  Canaan's  boun« 
daries  (ch.  xxxiv.)  is  a  number  of  minor  correc- 
tions of  the  Authorized  Version,  chief  of  which  is 
the  change  of  "  river  of  Egypt,"  which  most  read- 
ers would  suppose  to  be  the  Nile,  into  ''  brook  of 
Egypt,' '  a  very  different  stream,  the  modern  Wady- 
el-Arish,  which  reaches  the  sea  about  forty  miles 
south  of  Gaza.  In  the  account  of  the  cities  of  refuge 
(xxxv.  11-31)  the  same  Hebrew  word  is  rendered  in 
the  Authorized  Version  several  times  bj  ^^  man- 
slayer,"  and  again  by  "  slayer,"  and  again  by  '^mur- 
derer ;"  in  the  revision  the  first-mentioned  term 
is  carried  through  uniformly.  In  the  last  verse  but 
one  the  ambiguous  phrase,  ''  the  land  cannot  be 
cleansed  of  the  blood  that  is  shed  therein,"  is  re- 
placed by  the  clear  and  accurate  statement,  "  no  ex- 
piation can  be  made  for  the  land  for  the  blood,"  etc. 
Deuteronomy. — In  i.  1,  instead  of  "  the  plain  over 
against  the  Red  sea,^^  the  revision  has  "  the  Arabah 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PENTATEUCH.  91 

over  against  Supli."  The  margin  explains  the 
Arahah  as  tlie  deep  valley  running  north  and  south 
of  the  Dead  Sea.  It  is  the  most  conspicuous  topo- 
graphical feature  of  Palestine,  and  as  such  should  be 
noted  when  it  occurs  in  the  text  of  the  Scripture. 
"  Supli"  is  probably  the  pass  es  Sufeh,  near  Ain-el- 
AYeibeh.  E"o  one  who  has  ascended  that  pass  will 
wonder  at  its  being  used  in  a  geographical  descrip- 
tion. In  V.  7  the  revision  makes  distinct  the 
various  portions  of  the  country — viz.,  the  Arabah, 
the  hill  country,  the  lowland  (or  Shephelah=the  low 
tract  south  of  Carmel),  the  South  or  ^egeb,  and  the 
sea- shore  (the  entire  coast  up  to  Tyre).  These  well- 
marked  divisions  reappear  in  Joshua  (ix.  1,  x.  40, 
etc.).  In  V.  40  there  is  a  gain  in  clearness  by 
changing  ''  way  of  the  Ked  sea  "  into  ''  way  to  the 
Red  sea,"  which  is  beyond  question  the  meaning. 
In  iii.  17  the  first  word  of  the  compound  ''  Ashdoth 
Pisgah  ' '  is  translated  (as  in  the  Authorized  Version 
at  iv.  49),  and  appears  as  "  the  slopes  of  Pisgah." 
In  \v.  19  '' shouldest  be  driven"  is  changed  into 
^' be  drawn  away."  It  was  enticement  to  idolatry, 
not  compulsion,  against  which  Moses  warns  the 
people.  Yerse  41,  '^  Then  Moses  severed  three  cities 
beyond  Jordan,"  severed  is  changed  to  separated^ 
the  w^ord  used  in  the  corresponding  passage  (xix.  2). 
The  transposition  of  "desire"  and  "covet"  in  v. 
21  is  justified  by  the  wish  to  show  that  the  first  verb 
here  represents  the  same  Hebrew  word  that  occurs 
in  Ex.  XX.  17.  In  vii.  26  the  substitution  of  "  de- 
voted "  for  "  cursed  "  brings  out  the  full  meaning 


92  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

of  tlie  Hebrew  herein  as  something  given  over  to  de- 
struction by  divine  command.  An  unwelcome  change 
to  many  will  be  found  in  xi.  21,  "as  the  days  of 
heaven  upon  the  earth,"  where  the  revision  reads 
the  clause  "  as  the  days  of  the  heavens  above  the 
earth  ;"  but  the  original  words,  the  parallel  passage, 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  29,  and  Hebrew  usage,  all  require  us  to 
hold  the  comparison  as  relating  not  to  character  but 
to  duration,  and  the  meaning  to  be  that  Israel  should 
retain  the  land  as  long  as  the  heavens  cover  the 
earth.  In  v.  30  the  geographical  distinctions  of 
the  passage  are  made  much  more  intelligible  in  the 
revision.  Inxii.  31,  "  even  their  sons  and  daughters 
they  have  burnt  in  the  fire  to  their  gods,"  the  change 
from  the  past  tense  to  the  present  (according  to  the 
Hebrew)  is  important  as  showing  that  human  sacri- 
fices were  in  use  in  Canaan  at  the  time  of  the  con- 
quest. In  xiii.  13  the  revision  follows  the  Author- 
ized Version  in  the  phrase  "  sons  of  Behal,"  but 
adds  in  the  margin  what  is  the  accepted  meaning  of 
the  noun  "  worthlessness."  Many  scholars  insist 
that  this  phrase  is  simply  a  common  instance  of  per- 
sonification (like  sons  of  affliction  =  the  afflicted, 
Prov.  xxxi.  5),  and  should  always  be  resolved  into 
base,  or  worthless,  men.  But  the  Apostle  in  II. 
Cor.  vi.  15  uses  Belial  (or  Beliar)  as  the  name  of  a 
person,  and  for  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  it  is  well 
to  retain  the  picturesque  combination. 

The  change  in  xv.  4,  ''  Howbeit  there  shall  be  no 
poor  with  thee,"  etc.,  regards  the  words  as  a  promise 
of   exemption  from  abject  poverty  so  long  as  the 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PENTATEUCH.  93 

people  were  obedient,  and  therefore  as  conditional. 
The  Authorized  Version  rendering,  added  here  in 
the  margin,  ''  save  when  there  shall  be,"  etc.,  means 
that  a  loan  could  be  called  in  when  the  debtor  was 
not  a  poor  man  and  would  not  be  distressed  by  the 
exaction.  And  this  was  not  an  improbable  contin- 
gency, since  the  Lord  was  to  bless  the  people  so 
largely.  The  assurance  in  v.  11  seems  to  oppose 
the  view  taken  in  the  revision.  In  xviii.  10  the  term 
*'  witch"  is  replaced  by  ''  sorcerer,"  and  justly,  for 
the  Hebrew  noun  is  masculine.  (In  Ex.  xxii.  18  it 
is  feminine.)  In  the  close  of  xx.  19,  a  very  obscure 
and  difficult  passage,  the  revision  gives  a  rendering 
which  is  certainly  better  than  that  of  the  Authorized 
Version.  (It  is  that  of  the  LXX. ,  Ewald,  Knobel  and 
Keil.)  For  "  thou  shalt  not  cut  them  down  (for  the 
tree  of  the  field  is  man's  life)  to  employ  them  in  the 
siege"  is  substituted  ''  Thou  shalt  not  cut  them 
down  ;  for  is  the  tree  of  the  field  man,  that  it  should 
be  besieged  of  thee  ?"  In  xxi.  18  '^  a  rough  valley" 
is  changed  into  '' a  valley  with  running  water,"  in 
accordance  with  the  opinion  of  most  critics.  Verse 
8  is  rendered  more  accurately  and  smoothly  than  in 
the  Authorized  Version,  and  in  v.  1-1  the  phrase 
^'  make  merchandise  of  her"  is  wisely  exchanged 
for  "  deal  with  her  as  a  slave."  (So  in  xxiv.  7.)  In 
xxiii.  20  (and  xxix.  22)  ''  stranger"  is  well  replaced 
by  the  stronger  word  ^'foreigner."  In  xxv.  5  the 
change  of  "child"  into  "son"  is  important,  for  it 
was  the  failure  of  male  children  only  that  required 
the  application  of  the  Levirate  law.     In  xxviii.  4,  5 


94  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

and  17,  18  ^^  flocks  of  thy  sheep"  is  made  '^  young 
of  thy  flock,"  and  ''store"  becomes  "kneading 
trough,"  both  changes  being  due  to  fidehty.  For 
the  same  reason  "  removed  into"  in  v.  25  becomes 
''  tossed  to  and  fro  among,"  a  phrase  often  used 
in  reference  to  Israel's  sufferings  in  captivity.  But 
it  admits  of  a  doubt  whether  in  v.  68,  "ye  shall 
be  sold  unto  your  enemies,"  it  was  necessary  to 
change  "be  sold"  into  "sell  yourselves,"  since 
the  reflexive  conjugation  sometimes  is  a  simple 
passive.  In  xxix.  19  "  stubbornness"  is  more  cor- 
rect than  the  "imagination"  of  the  Authorized 
Version  ;  and  the  change  in  tlie  last  clause  of  "to 
add  drunkenness  to  thirst"  to  "to  destroy  the  moist 
with  the  dry"  is  more  literal,  and  does  something 
to  relieve  the  obscurity  which  overhangs  the  clause 
(cf.  Luke  xxiii.  31).  In  xxxi.  26  is  the  small  but 
significant  change  of  the  preposition  "in"  into 
"  by,"  for  the  book  of  the  law  was  put,  not  "  in  the 
side  of  the  ark,"  but  by  the  side  of  it.  In  xxxii.  5 
there  is  a  great  change.  The  second  member,  as 
given  in  the  Authorized  Version  ("  their  spot  is  not 
the  spot  of  his  children"),  is  an  impossible  transla- 
tion. The  extreme  compression  of  the  Hebrew 
makes  it  hard  to  render  at  once  literally  and  intelli- 
gibly. The  revision  reads  "  they  are  not  his  children, 
it  is  their  blemish,"  meaning  that  these  corrupt 
dealers,  so  far  from  being  God's  children,  are  their 
blot — ^.6.,  a  blemish  to  the  name.  In  v.  1  the  fine 
comparison  of  the  eagle  is  brought  out  more  dis- 
tinctly than  in  the  Authorized  Version.      In  v.  17 


CHANGES   I:N"   the   PENTATEUCH.  95 

^^  demons"  is  much  better  than  "  devils,"  which  is 
misleading.  In  v.  27,  "  lest  their  adversaries  should 
behave  themselves  strangely,"  the  last  three  words 
are  correctly  changed  to  ''misdeem."  Many  will 
regret  to  lose  out  of  v.  35  the  familiar  utterance, 
"  Their  foot  shall  slide  in  due  time,"  but  true 
as  that  sentiment  is,  it  cannot  be  fairly  gotten  out 
of  the  Hebrew,  which  simply  means  "  At  the  time 
when  their  foot  shall  slide."  An  obscurity  is  re- 
moved in  V.  36,  "and  there  is  none  shut  up  or 
left,"  by  adding  "at  large"  to  the  word  "left," 
this  indicating  the  contrast  implied  in  the  clause. 
The  prefix  of  "  As"  in  v.  40  to  "Hive  forever" 
makes  the  whole  passage  plainer  ;  and  the  new  ren- 
dering of  the  last  clause  of  v.  42,  "  From  the  head 
of  the  leaders  of  the  enemy,"  is  at  once  clearer  and 
more  suitable  than  "  From  the  beginning  of  re- 
venges upon  the  enemy."  The  song  of  Moses  in 
ch.  xxxiii.  is  given  more  plainly  than  in  the  Au- 
thorized Yersion,  as  well  as  more  correctly.  The 
declaration  about  Reuben  is  rendered  literally,  "  And 
let  his  men  be  few,"  and  the  other  version  put  in  the 
margin.  The  same  is  true  respecting  the  third  mem- 
ber of  Judah's  blessing.  In  v.  17  "  unicorns"  is 
changed  into  "wild  ox,"  and  "people  together" 
into  "peoples  all  of  them."  In  v.  21  "because 
there,  in  a  portion  of  the  lawgiver,  was  he  seated  " 
becomes  "  For  there  was  the  lawgiver's  portion 
reserved" — i.e.,  in  due  time  he  secured  his  allot- 
ment. In  V.  25  the  "  shoes"  of  Asher's  portion 
are,  in  accordance  with  most  modern  critics,  given 


96  OLD   TESTAMENT   EEYISIOiT. 

as  '^bars."  In  v.  28  a  different  view  of  the  con- 
nection from  that  taken  by  the  Authorized  Version 
preserves  the  parallelism,  and  the  order  and  mean- 
ing of  the  original,  thus  : 

And  Israel  dwelleth  in  safety, 
The  fountain  of  Jacob  alone, 
In  a  land  of  corn  and  wine. 

Israel  is  safe,  yet  separate  from  all  other  peoples, 
and,  moreover,  in  a  rich  and  fertile  region. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

CHANGES    IN   THE    HISTORICAL    BOOKS. 

In  the  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament  the 
need  of  amendment  is  much  less  than  in  other  por- 
tions of  the  Scripture.  Unusual  forms,  rare  combi- 
nations, elHptical  phrases,  difficult  constructions,  are 
not  nearly  so  frequent  as  in  the  prophetic  or  poetic 
writings.  For  the  most  part  the  narrative  runs  on  in 
an  even  tenor,  according  to  the  accepted  usages  of 
the  language. 

Joshua. — In  this  book  the  partition  of  Canaan 
among  the  tribes  is  rendered  more  intelligible  owing 
to  modern  progress  in  sacred  geography.  But  occa- 
sionally there  is  an  infelicity  of  another  kind  that  re- 
quires removal.  In  iii.  13  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Jordan  it  is  said  in  the  Authorized  Version  that  '^  the 
water  of  Jordan  shall  be  cut  o^from  the  waters  that 
come  down  from  above,"  but  the  subsequent  verses 
show  tliat  the  italicized  word  from  is  needless  and 
disturbing,  and  should  be  replaced  by  *' even,"  for 
it  was  the  descending  waters  that  were  to  be  cut  off. 
So  in  V,  21,  the  place  where  the  waters  stood  in  a 
heap  was,  not  "  very  far  from  the  city  of  Adam,"  but 
''  a  great  way  off,  at  Adam,  the  city  that  is  beside," 
etc.     The  revision  here  rightly  adheres  to  the  Ket- 


98  OLD   TESTAMEITT   EEYISIOiq'. 

hib,  which  furnishes  a  reason  for  the  mention  of 
Adam.  In  viii.  33  the  Authorized  Yersion  is  altered 
so  as  to  read,  "  as  Moses  .  .  .  had  commanded  that 
they  should  bless  the  people  of  Israel  first  of  all." 
This  is  more  literal  than  the  old  version,  more  con- 
formed to  the  order  of  the  original,  and  besides  gives 
a  reason  why  this  solemn  ceremony  was  performed 
before  the  conquest  of  the  land  was  completed.  In 
ix.  4, 13,  instead  of  "  wine  bottles,"  we  read  ^'  wine- 
skins," of  which  alone  it  could  be  said  that  they 
were  *'rent  and  bound  up."  In  x.  12,  13  the  ex- 
traordinary command  of  Joshua  and  its  fulfilment  are 
printed  in  verse  form,  in  accordance  with  its  mani- 
fest intention  and  character. 

Sun,  stand  tlioii  still  npon  Gibeon  ; 

And  thou,  Moon,  in  the  valley  of  Aijalon. 

And  the  sun  stood  still,  and  the  moon  stayed, 

Until  the  nation  had  avenged  themselves  of  their  enemies. 

The  advantage  of  this  is  that  thus  there  is  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  sublime,  rhythmical,  poetical  utter- 
ance that  is  quoted,  and  the  cool,  prosaic  statement  of 
the  author  which  follows  it,  reasserting  the  miracle. 
One  is  an  extract  from  the  Book  of  Jasher,  the  other 
the  historian's  narrative.  In  xi.  2  the  revision  states 
clearly  the  different  regions  summoned  by  Jabin  to  his 
help.  In  V.  13  "  the  cities  that  stood  in  their  strength" 
is  changed  to  "on  their  mounds,"  the  sense  being 
that  the  cities  in  the  plain  were  burned,  but  the  for- 
tified upland  cities  (save  Hazor)  were  only  sacked. 
An  important  correction  is  made  in  xxii.  11,  where 
the  true  rendering  "  in  front  of  the  land  of  Canaan," 


CHANGES   li^   THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  99 

instead  of  ^'  over  against  the  land,"  etc.,  shows  that 
the  altar  of  the  trans-Jordanic  tribes  was  erected  not 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  but  on  the  western, 
as  indeed  it  required  to  be  in  order  to  contirm  the 
claim  of  these  tribes  to  a  common  interest  in  the 
Sanctuary  of  Israel.  In  xxiv.  15  the  change  of 
^'  flood  "  into  "  River"  {i.e.,  the  Euphrates)  removes 
a  needless  obscurity,  and  shows  that  the  reference  is 
to  the  ancestors  of  Abraham  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees. 

Judges. — The  song  of  Deborah  (ch.  v.)  is  amend- 
ed  according  to  the  demands  of  modern  scholarship. 
Yerses  10,  11  are  rendered  so  as  to  show  the  call  on 
those  now  in  safety  and  comfort  to  give  due  honor  to 
the  author  of  their  deliverance. 

Tell  of  if,  ye  that  ride  on  white  asses, 

Ye  that  sit  on  rich  carpets, 

And  ye  that  walk  by  the  way. 

Far  from  the  noise  of  archers,  in  the  places  of  drawing  water, 

There  shall  they  rehearse  the  righteous  acts  of  the  Lord. 

The  verses  that  follow  are  still  somewhat  obscure 
owing  to  the  brevity  of  the  phrases,  but  many  clauses 
are  helped,  as  in  the  substitution  of  ''  the  mar- 
shal's staff"  for  "the  pen  of  the  writer,"  and  of 
'^  they  rushed  forth  at  his  feet"  instead  of  "  he  was 
sent  on  foot,"  and  in  the  striking  antithesis  about  the 
"  water-courses  of  Eeuben."  "  Creeks"  in  place  of 
*' breaches,"  v.  17,  turns  darkness  into  light. 

In  vii.  11,  19  ''  outside"  is  changed  into  "  outer- 
most" with  propriety  and  advantage,  and  in  the 
same  connection  "  lamps"  into  ''torches."  In  x. 
63  the  misleading  archaism  "  all  to  brake  his  skull  '^ 


100  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOi^. 

is  changed  to  ''brake  liis  skull."  In  xv.  19  the 
change  of  ''  the  jaw"  into  the  proper  name  "  Lehi" 
shows  that  the  fountain  that  refreshed  Samson  burst 
forth  not  from  the  jawbone  but  from  a  depression  in 
the  earth.  So  in  xx.  18,  26,  31  and  xxi.  2  ''  the 
house  of  God"  becomes  ''Bethel,"  because  it  is 
certain  that  it  was  the  city  so  called,  and  not  the 
sanctuary  that  the  writer  meant. 

I.  Samuel. — In  i.  28  the  change  of  "  lent"  into 
''  granted  "  expresses  the  exact  sense  of  the  original. 
In  iii.  13  Eli's  sons  "made  themselves  vile"  be- 
comes "  did  bring  a  curse  upon  themselves,"  which 
is  the  usual  meaning  of  the  word  used  here.  In  vi. 
18  "  even  unto  the  great  sto7ie  of  Abel  whereon  they 
set  down  the  ark"  becomes  "even  unto  the  great 
stone  wdiereon  they  set,"  etc. — one  of  the  few  in- 
stances in  which  tlie  existing  Hebrew  text  is  corrected 
on  the  authority  of  the  early  versions,  the  internal 
evidence  in  their  favor  being  overwhelming.  In  ix. 
20  Samuel  asks  Saul,  "  On  whom  is  all  the  desire  of 
Israel  ?"  but  the  revision  gives  the  true  sense,  "  For 
whom  is  all  that  is  desirable  in  Israel  ?"  At  this 
time  the  young  Saul  was  not  widely  known.  In 
xxiv.  3  "  sides"  of  the  cave  is  properly  made  "inner- 
most j^arts,"  and  in  xxvii.  10  "  Whither  have  ye 
made  a  road  to-day"  the  change  of  a  single  letter 
converts  the  archaic  "road"  into  the  modern 
"raid." 

II.  Samuel. — In  i.  18  the  Authorized  Version  says 
Pavid  "  bade  them  teach  the  children  of  Judah  the 
use  of  the  bow,"  which  is  most  improbable,  and  the 


CHAKGES   IN   THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  101 

revision  puts  tlie  last  words,  ^^  the  song  of  the  bow" 
— viz.,  the  one  which  immediately  follows,  it  taking 
this  name  from  the  mention  of  Jonathan's  bow  in 
V.  22.  This  is  in  accordance  with  Oriental  usage. 
The  second  chapter  of  the  Koran  is  very  long,  yet 
because  of  the  brief  mention  of  a  red  cow  in  a  por- 
tion of  it,  it  bears  the  title,  ''The  Cow."  In 
ii.  23  (iii.  2^  et  al.)  "  Abner  smote  him  under  the 
iifth  rib,"  the  last  four  words  are,  in  agreement 
with  modern  lexicons,  changed  to  "in  the  belly." 
In  V.  10  we  read  "  David  went  on  and  grew  great ;" 
the  revision  resolves  this  Hebrew  idiom  by  rendering 
"  David  waxed  greater  and  greater,"  which  is  the 
exact  English  equivalent.  In  vi.  19,  instead  of  "  a 
flagon  of  wine,"  the  revision  properly  reads,  "  a  cake 
of  raisins."  In  xvi.  7  the  words,  "Begone,  be- 
gone, thou  bloody  man,"  are  surely  a  more  spirited 
rendering  of  Shimei's  address  to  David  than  the 
"  Come  out,  come  out  "  of  the  Authorized  Yersion. 
It  is  hard  to  understand  the  reason  assigned  by  Joab 
in  xvii.  22  for  declining  to  allow  Ahimaaz  to  run  as 
messenger  to  the  king,  because  it  asserts  what  cer- 
tainly was  not  the  fact.  Therefore  the  assertion, 
"  Seeing  thou  hast  no  tidings  ready,"  is  well  replaced 
by  "  Seeing  thou  wilt  hacve  no  reward  for  the  tid- 
ings," which  is  intehigible.  The  last  words  of 
David  in  xx.  1-7,  though  not  wholly  relieved  of  ob- 
scurity, are  yet  made  much  plainer  in  the  revision. 
In  accordance  with  the  solemn  formality  with  which 
these  words  are  introduced,  it  makes  the  third  verse 
describe  not  what  must  be,  as  in  the  case  of  an  earthly 


102  OLD   TESTAMENT   EEVISION". 

ruler,  but  rather  what  shall  be,  with  at  least  a  hint 
of  Messianic  reference. 

One  that  riileth  over  men  righteously, 

That  ruleth  in  the  fear  of  God  ; 

He  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  morning  when  the  sun  riseth, 

A  morning  without  clouds  ; 

When  the  tender  grass  springeth  out  of  the  earth, 

Through  clear  shining  after  rain. 

In  xxiv.  23  the  version,  "  all  this,  O  king,  doth 
Araunah  give  unto  the  king,"  is  quite  as  faithful  as 
that  of  the  Authorized  Yersi on,  "  all  these  things  did 
Araunah,  as  a  king,  give  unto  the  king,"  and  much 
more  natural. 

1.  Kings. — In  v.  18,  instead  of  ^'  stone-squarers," 
the  revision  adopts  the  rendering  given  in  the  mar- 
gin of  the  A.  Y.,  "  Giblites,"  now  universally  ad- 
mitted to  be  correct.  (It  means  the  people  of  Gebal, 
a  Phoenician  city.)  The  same  remark  is  true  of  the 
change  in  x.  28  (II.  Chron.  i.  16),  where  "  linen 
yarn"  is  certainly  a  mistranslation.  The  correction 
made  in  xii.  31,  33,  '^  made  priests  from  among  all  the 
people,"  instead  of  "of  the  lowest  of  the  people," 
relieves  Jeroboam  of  the  superfluous  folly  of  making 
the  worst  men  priests.  What  he  really  did  was  to 
disregard  the  priestly  tribe.  The  change  in  xv.  13  re- 
veals more  clearly  the  extraordinary  ^vickedness  of 
Maachah,  who  did  not  make  simply  "  an  idol  in  a 
grove,"  but  "  an  abominable  image  for  an  Asherah," 
probably  an  infamous  phallas-statue.  In  xviii.  45  it 
is  a  gain  to  read  that  the  rain  came  not  "  in  the  mean 
while,"  but  ''in  a  little  while."    So  in  xx.  27,  instead 


CHANGES   IN  THE  HISTORICAL  BOOKS.  103 

of  the  statement  that  the  people  ^^  were  numbered  and 
were  all  present,"  it  is  said  that  they  were  "  mustered 
and  were  victualled."  In  xxii.  38,  instead  of  the 
meaningless  utterance  '^  and  they  w^ashed  his  armor," 
the  revision  reads  correctly,  ''  now  tlie  harlots  washed 
themselves  there,"  which  teaches  that  Ahab's  blood 
came  in  contact  not  only  with  dogs,  but  with  impure 
and  shameful  persons. 

II.  Kings. — ^The  interrogation  in  i.  3  as  to  Aha- 
ziah's  folly  in  consulting  the  god  of  Ekron  when  he 
was  sick,  gains  much  in  force  and  vividness  by  being 
put,  as  the  Hebrew  demands,  in  a  positive  form — 
'^  Is  it  because  there  is  no  God  in  Israel  that  ye  go 
to  inquire  of  Baal-zebub  ?"  The  addition  of  the 
margin  to  ii.  0  forbids  the  common  mistake  of  sup- 
posing that  Elisha  asked  to  have  twice  as  much  of 
the  Spirit  as  Elijah  had.  He  asked  a  first-born's 
portion  in  his  master's  spirit.  In  viii.  11  the  addi- 
tion of  the  words  in  italics,  '^  Mi^on  A^m,"  to  the  state- 
ment, "  and  he  settled  his  countenance  steadfastly," 
removes  an  ambiguity  by  showing  that  it  was  the 
steady  gaze  of  Elisha  that  put  Hazael  to  shame.  In 
ix.  8,  and  elsewhere,  the  term  ''man  child"  ex- 
presses the  full  sense,  and  does  away  with  a  disagree- 
able form  of  speech.  (A  similar  euphemism  is  intro- 
duced in  xv^iii.  27.)  In  xii.  4  the  phrase  "  current 
money,"  which  exactly  renders  the  Hebrew,  dis- 
places the  obscure  statement,  '^  even  the  money  of 
everyone  that  passeth  the  account.'^''  Many  readers 
have  stumbled  at  the  statement  (xxii.  14)  that  Hul- 
dah  dwelt  at  Jerusalem  "in  the  college,"  but  the 


104  OLD   TESTAMENT   REYISION. 

word  means,  as  the  revision  has  it,  "  the  second 
quarter"  of  the  citj,  probably  an  addition  recently 
made  to  its  enclosure. 

I.  Chronicles. — Inx.  3  ''  and  the  archers  hit  him, 
and  he  was  wounded  of  the  archers,"  a  repetition  is 
avoided  by  changing  '^  and  hit  him"  to  "  and  over- 
took him,"  a  rendering  just  as  faithful  as  the  other. 
In  xii.  14  the  excellence  of  the  Gadites  becomes  more 
conspicuous  by  the  better  rendering  that  is  adopted 
in  the  revision.  !Not  ''  one  of  the  least  was  over  an 
hundred,  and  the  greatest  over  a  thousand,"  but  "he 
that  was  least  was  equal  to  a  hundred,  and  the  great- 
est to  a  thousand."  In  the  40th  verse  an  obvious 
error  is  corrected  by  changing  "  meat,  meal  "  into 
the  marginal  rendering  of  the  Authorized  Version, 
'^  victual  of  meal."  In  xiv.  15  the  signal  for  David 
to  attack  the  Philistines  is  not  the  obscure  "  a  sound 
of  going"  in  the  tops  of  the  mulberry  trees,  but  "  the 
sound  of  marching,"  which  is  much  more  intelligible. 
In  the  close  of  ch.  xvii.,  the  whole  tone  of  the 
passage  is  lifted  up  by  rendering  v.  24,  "  and 
the  house  of  David  is  established,"  instead  of  "  let  it 
be  established,"  and  v.  27,  ''and  now  it  hath 
pleased  thee  to  bless  the  house  of  thy  servant,"  in- 
stead of  "  let  it  please  thee  to  bless,"  etc.  For  the 
words  express  not  merely  a  request,  but  a  calm  and 
assured  conviction  that  God  has  done  and  will  do 
what  He  promised.  This  the  revision  states  in 
conformity  to  the  original.  In  ch.  xxix.  "  glis- 
tering stones"  (v.  3)  is  happily  exchanged  for 
"  stones   for  inlaid  work,"  and  (v.  7)  the  mislead- 


CHANGES   IN   THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  105 

ing  term  "  dram,"  which  suggests  inevitably  onr 
Engh'sh  weight  so  called,  for  "  daric,"  the  name  of 
a  Persian  coin. 

II.  Chronicles. — In  the  Authorized  Version,  at 
iv.  3,  we  read  of  oxen  that  compassed  the  molten  sea 
*'  ten  in  a  cubit,"  which  is  simply  impossible.  Few 
who  study  the  case  can  doubt  that  there  has  been  an 
error  of  early  date  in  transcription,  substituting  the 
word  here  given  (bekharim)  for  the  word  (pekhahim), 
which  is  found  in  the  corresponding  passage  in 
I.  Kings  (vii.  24).  The  revision  meets  the  difficulty 
by  translating  '^  for  ten  cubits,"  which  is  intelligible, 
but  rather  a  strain  upon  the  Hebrew.  The  word 
^'  devils"  in  xi.  15  is  misleading  as  well  as  incorrect, 
and  is  therefore  rendered  literally  ''  he  goats."  The 
last  words  of  this  chapter,  ' '  And  he  desired  many 
wives,"  which  in  the  Authorized  Yersion  only  re- 
peat what  has  been  already  said,  are  made  in  the 
revision  to  have  a  sense  which  is  legithnate  and  in 
entire  harmony  with  the  connection.  "  And  he 
sought  for  them  [the  sons  just  mentioned]  many 
wives." 

The  change  of  ^'  images"  into  '^  sun-images"  in 
xiv.  5  relieves  the  narrative  of  repetition  (see  v. 
3),  and  brings  to  view  what  seems  to  have  been  a 
very  seductive  form  of  idol  worship  in  ancient  Israel. 
In  viii.  22  and  xxiv.  27,  for  the  word  "story"  of 
the  Authorized  Yersion,  the  revision  adopts  its 
marginal  rendering,  "commentary."  The  Hebrew 
term  is  the  same  (Mid rash)  afterward  employed  by 
the  Rabbins  to  denote  their  interpretations  of  the 


106  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION". 

Scripture.  In  xxviii.  19  tlie  obscure  plirase  "he 
made  Judali  naked  "  is  liappily  exchanged  for  "  he 
dealt  wantonly  (or  margin,  cast  away  restraint)  in 
Judah."  In  xxxiii.  11  it  is  said  that  the  captains  of 
the  host  of  Assyria  "took  Manasseh  among  the 
thorns,"  which  it  is  not  easy  to  understand.  The 
revision,  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew,  puts  it, 
"  took  Manasseh  in  chains,"  and  adds  a  margin, 
"  Or,  with  hooks,^''  either  of  which  is  intelligible. 
In  V.  19  the  statement  that  certain  things  are 
written  "  among  the  sayings  of  the  seers,"  is  made 
"  in  the  history  of  Hozai,"  in  accordance  with  most 
of  the  moderns,  who  think  that  the  word  rendered 
"  seers"  is  really  a  proper  name.  In  xxxiv.  6,  after 
saying  that  Josiah  burned  the  bones  of  the  priests 
and  cleansed  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  the  writer  adds, 
"  So  did  he  in  the  cities  of  Manasseh  .  .  .  even 
unto  Naphtali,  with  their  mattocks  round  about." 
As  it  is  hard  to  see  how  either  burning  or  cleansing 
could  be  done  with  mattocks,  the  revision  reads  the 
last  clause,  "  in  their  ruins  round  about,"  a  phrase 
which  would  apply  very  well  to  the  dismantled  and 
forsaken  cities  of  northern  Israel. 

THE    POST- EXILE    BOOKS. 

These  books,  like  Chronicles  and  Daniel,  have  a 
considerable  mixture  of  Chaldee  with  the  Hebrew, 
and  also  have  a  number  of  words  known  or  supposed 
to  be  of  Persian  origin,  as  was  to  be  expected  from  the 
circumstances  of  the  time.  These,  however,  add  but 
little  to  the  difficulties  of  the  interpreter  or  translator. 


CHAXGES   IN   THE   HISTORICAL   BOOKS.  107 

Ezra.  — In  iv.  11  a  letter  is  represented  as  begin- 
ning, "  Thy  servants,  tlie  men  on  this  side  the  river, 
and  at  such  a  time,"  where  the  last  clause  (found 
also  in  vv.  10  and  17)  seems  to  be  wholly  unmeaning. 
The  revision  renders,  "  and  so  forth,"  the  combina- 
tion apparently  being  equiv^alent  to  our  et  coetera. 
The  same  phrase  is  found  again  in  vii.  12,  where 
the  letter  of  Artaxerxes  begins  with  the  words, 
"  Unto  Ezra,  the  priest,  a  scribe  of  the  law  of  the 
God  of  heaven,  perfect  peace  and  at  such  a  time," 
which  the  revision  renders  more  faithfully,  '^  unto 
Ezra  the  priest,  the  scribe  of  the  law  of  the  God  of 
heaven,  perfect  and  so  forth,"  which  is  exactly  in 
the  style  of  formal  address  to  a  person  of  dignity. 
In  V.  22,  instead  of  "  measures"  of  wheat  the  re- 
vision has  "cors."  And  very  properly,  for  surely 
it  is  as  reasonable  to  transliterate  a  Hebrew  dry 
measure  as  it  is  the  liquid  one,  w^hich  occurs  in  the 
same  verse  ("  baths"),  and  often  elsewhere.  '^  Cor" 
occurs  once  (Ezek.  xlv.  14)  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion. In  viii.  36  "lieutenants"  is  replaced  by 
"  satraps,"  which,  being  an  anglicized  Persian  word, 
is  rightly  used  to  denote  a  Persian  officer.  In  ix. 
6,  7,  13,  15  and  x.  19  "  trespass"  is  supplanted  by 
"  guilt"  and  "  guiltiness,"  the  stronger  term  being 
required  to  bring  out  the  full  meaning  of  the  original. 

Nehemiah. — Inii.  8,  instead  of  '^  the  palace  which 
appertained  to  the  house,' '  the  revision  reads  more 
sensibly  "  the  castle  w^hich  appertaineth  to  the 
house."  In  iv.  6  tlie  Authorized  Version  says,  "  and 
all  tlie  wall  was  joined  together  unto  the  half  thereof," 


108  OLD   TESTAMEK-T   KEYISIOX. 

which  is  a  very  enigmatic  utterance.  The  revision 
relieves  the  difficulty  by  rendering  ''unto  half  ih^ 
height  thereof,"  which  is  doubtless  the  true  sense. 
In  V.  8  certain  persons  are  said  to  conspire  to  light 
against  Jerusalem,  and  "  to  hinder  it."  The  revision 
is  at  the  same  time  more  literal  and  more  intelligible 
in  rendering  the  phrase,  ''  to  cause  confusion  there- 
in." In  the  last  verse  of  the  chapter,  Nehemiah 
says,  "  none  of  us  put  off  our  clothes  saving  that 
every  one  put  them  off  for  washing."  This  is  so  flat 
and  feeble  that  most  critics  agree  that  something  has 
dropped  out  of  the  text.  The  revision  greatly  less- 
ens the  difficulty  by  rendering,  "  Every  one  loent 
loith  his  weapon  to  the  water."  In  v.  10  the 
Authorized  Version  represents  IS^ehemiah  as  saying, 
after  his  rebuke  of  others  for  their  exactions,  "  I 
likewise,  and  my  brethren  and  my  servants,  might 
exact  of  them  money  and  corn."  But  this  is  not  the 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew,  which  states  not  a  possibility 
but  a  fact.  Hence  the  revision  renders  fairly,  "  And 
I  likewise  ...  do  lend  them  money  and  corn  on 
usury."  Nehemiah  through  his  family  was  impli- 
cated in  the  wrongdoing,  and  hence  his  confession, 
and  his  saying,  "let  1^5  leave  off  this  usury."  In 
ix.  22  the  Authorized  Version  reads,  "Moreover, 
thou  gavest  them  kingdoms  and  peoples  ;  and  didst 
divide  them  into  corners."  The  last  clause  the  re- 
vision renders,  "  which  thou  didst  allot  after  their 
portions,"  which  at  least  has  some  meaning.  The 
eleventh  chapter  closes  with  the  verse,  "  And  of  the 
Levites  ivere  divisions  in  Judah  and  in  Benjamin," 


CHANGES    IX    THE    HISTOIIICAL   BOOKS.  109 

a  very  unimportant  statement.  The  revision  gets  a 
much  better  sense  by  rendering,  "And  of  the  Levites 
certain  courses  in  Judah  %oere  joined  unto  Ben- 
jamin." 

Esther. — In  i.  22  the  last  clause  reads,  "and  that 
it  should  be  published  according  to  the  language  of 
every  people."  The  revision  is  more  accurate  in 
rendering,  "  and  should  speak  of  it  according  to  the 
language  of  his  people,"  which  doubtless  refers  to 
tiie  diversities  of  languages  in  the  households  of  the 
polygamous  Persians.  In  iv.  6  "  street  of  the  city" 
is  changed  to  "broad  place  {i.e.^  open  square)  of  the 
city,"  in  front  of  the  palace.  In  viii.  10  it  is  said 
of  the  king's  decree  that  letters  were  sent  "  by  posts 
on  horseback,  and  riders  on  mules,  camels  and  young 
dromedaries."  This  is  altered  to  read  "  by  posts  on 
horseback,  riding  on  swift  steeds  that  were  used  in. 
the  king's  service,  bred  of  the  stud,"  which  is  more 
faithful,  and  better  suggests  the  pains  and  care  for 
rapid  communication.  In  ix.  19  it  is  said  of  the  Jews 
that  they  "  made  the  fourteenth  day  of  Adar  a  day  of 
feasting  and  gladness,"  as  if  this  was  done  only  that 
year.  But  the  true  sense  is  that  this  became  a  per- 
manent custom.     Hence  the  revision,  following  the 


Hebrew,  translates,  "  Therefore  do  the  Jews  make. 


5> 

etc. 


CHAPTEE  YI. 

CHANGES    Ds    THE    POETICAL    ECKJES. 

The  Book  of  Joe. — Poetry  is  found ,  as  we  Lave 
seen,  in  the  liistorical  books,  and  also  occurs  in  tlje 
prophets,  but  there  are  several  books  of  which  it 
makes  the  warp  and  the  woof.  This  fact  renders  the 
work  of  the  translator  more  difficult,  because  a  close 
rendering  of  words  sometimes  causes  both  form  and 
spirit  to  evaporate.  The  difficulty  is  increased  where 
the  writer  is  profound  and  sublime  as  well  as  impas- 
sioned. Hence  it  is  acknowledged  that  King  James's 
translators  were  less  successful  in  the  Book  of  Job 
than  anywhere  else.  Sometimes  the  course  of  the 
argument  was  mistaken,  at  others  the  meaning  of 
particular  words  or  the  connection  of  the  clauses. 
Xor  can  revisers  in  our  o^vn  day  be  sure  of  having 
the  universal  suffrage  of  scholars  in  favor  of  the 
emendatiorLS  they  introduce,  for  often  there  is  only  a 
choice  of  difficulties,  ^"ords  are  met  with  that  occur 
but  once,  and  so  offer  no  facility  of  comparison  with 
other  passages,  and  there  are  references  or  allusions 
to  customs  that  have  long  been  obsolete.  And  while 
the  analogy  of  the  other  Semitic  tongues  offers  some 
help,  it  is  not  always  such  as  can  be  rehed  upon. 
The  rhythm  and  beauty  of  the  English  of  the  common 


CHANGES   IN   THE   POETICAL   BOOKS.  Ill 

version  have  rendered  it  attractive  to  many  cultivated 
men,  who  regard  Job  only  as  a  wonderfully  lino 
ancient  poem,  but  w^ithout  any  definite  divine  author- 
ity ;  and  their  praise  of  it  is  unstinted.  So  much 
the  more  reason  is  there  for  such  a  revision  of  the 
version  as  will  make  it  represent  the  present  state  of 
Hebrew  scholarship.  Needless  obscurities  may  be 
removed,  not  only  in  single  Avords  and  clauses,  but 
also  in  the  connection  of  the  thought  and  the  aim  of 
the  difiPerent  speakers.  And  so  far  as  this  has  been 
effected  in  the  revision  a  boon  of  no  common  magni- 
tude has  been  conferred  on  ordinary  readers,  in 
enabling  them  to  get  a  better  comprehension  and  a 
fuller  enjoyment  of  the  noblest  poem  and  loftiest 
discussion  the  w^orld  has  ever  seen,  one  too  which, 
notwithstanding  its  grandeur  and  pathos  and  fire,  its 
boundless  range  of  figure  and  illustration,  yet  deals 
with  a  moral  question  of  perpetual  recurrence  in 
every  land  and  every  age.  This  question,  the  ap- 
parent contradiction  between  God's  promise  and  His 
providence,  is  often  glanced  at  in  the  prophetic  writ- 
ings, such  as  Malachi  iii.  13-18,  and  is  lyrically  set 
forth  in  several  of  the  Psalms,  such  as  the  73d,  but 
only  here  is  it  formally  debated  by  a  number  of 
speakers  and  finally  brought  to  an  issue  by  the  voice 
of  Jehovah  Himself. 

In  i.  5  (also  v.  11  and  ii.  5,  9)  the  phrase  '^  cursed 
God"  is  replaced  by  "renounced  God,"  which  in 
the  judgment  of  most  critics  is  more  suitable  and 
natural.  In  iii.  8  the  change  of  '^  mourning"  into 
*^  Leviathan"  (the  marginal  reading  of  the  Author- 


112  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOI^. 

izecl  Yersion)  is  demanded  by  fidelity,  however  dif- 
ficult it  is  to  explain  the  word.  In  v.  7,  8  the  rea- 
soning of  Eliphaz  is  sadly  perplexed  in  the  Authorized 
Yersion  by  making  him  say  that  ''  Although  afflic- 
tion Cometh  not,  etc.,  yet  man  is  born  to  trouble, 
etc.  ;"  whereas  what  he  says  is  really,  as  the  revision 
gives  it : 

For  affliction  cometli  not  forth  of  the  dust, 
Neither  doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground  ; 
But  man  is  born  unto  trouble, 
As  the  sisarlis  fl}''  ui^ward. 

Sorrow  does  not  come  from  natural  causes,  but  from 
man's  sinful  nature.  In  viii.  13,  as  in  seven  other 
places,  "hypocrite"  is  changed  to  ''godless  man," 
which  is  the  true  meaning  of  the  word.  In  ix.  29 
"7)^1  be  wicked"  is  justly,  and  with  great  advan- 
tage to  the  sense,  made  to  read,  "I  shall  be  con- 
demned." In  the  very  difficult  verse,  xi.  12,  the 
revision  renders 

But  a  vain  man  would  be  wise, 
Though  man  is  born  as  a  wild  ass's  colt, 

and  puts  in  the  margin  one  of  the  most  probable  of 
the  many  other  renderings,  some  of  which  show  that 
if  the  charge  in  the  text  is  not  true  of  the  race,  it 
certainly  is  of  some  members  of  it.  In  xii.  5  the 
obscure  comparison  of  a  man  ready  to  fall  to  "  a 
lam.p  despised"  disappears  in  the  revision,  which 
renders  faithfully  and  clearly. 

In  the  thought  of  him  that  is  at  ease  there  is  contempt  for  mis- 
fortune ; 
It  is  ready  for  them  whose  foot  slippeth. 


CHANGES    11^   THE    POETICAL   BOOKS.  113 

So  in  xiii.  12  tlie  dark  and  unmeaning  comparison  of 
remembrances  to  aslies,  and  of  "  bodies"  to  "  bodies 
of  claj"  becomes  lucid  in  tlie  version, 

Yonr  memorable  sayings  are  proverbs  of  ashes, 
Your  defences  are  defences  of  clay. 

Many  readers  will  be  glad  to  see  that  tlie  common 
version  of  xiii.  15,  ^'  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  1 
trust  in  Him,"  is  substantially  retained,  although 
most  critics,  following  a  different  reading  of  the  text, 
explain  the  passage  as  meaning  that  Job,  though  he 
knows  that  God  will  slay  him  and  he  has  no  hope  of 
another  issue,  yet  will  maintain  his  right  before  Him. 
In  V.  27  the  obscure  ^'  settest  a  print  upon  the  heels 
of  my  feet"  becomes  '^  d rawest  a  line  about  the 
soles  of  my  feet" — i.e.,keepes>t  me  as  a  prisoner. 
The  revision  renders  xvii.  11  "  Are  the  consolations 
of  God,"  etc.,  more  accurately  and  with  a  great  in- 
crease of  force.     Thus  : 

Are  the  consolations  of  God  too  small  for  thee, 
And  the  word  that  deaieih  gently  with  thee  ? 

So  in  xvi.  21  it  makes  Job  express  the  wish  that  his 
witness,  God,  would  see  right  done  him  both  with 
God  and  with  men.  The  touching  passage  xvii.  15, 
16,  ^'  where  is  now  ray  hope  'i  They  shall  go 
down,"  etc.,  is  so  altered  as  to  show  Job's  con- 
viction that  the  hope  held  before  him  by  his 
friends,  instead  of  being  realized,  will  go  down 
with  him  to  Sheol  when  once  he  finds  rest  in  the 
grave.     Thus : 


114  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION. 

Where  then  is  my  hope  ? 
And  as  for  my  hope,  who  shall  see  it  ? 
It  shall  go  down  to  the  bars  of  Sheol, 
When  once  there  is  rest  in  the  dust. 

In  xviii.  15  the  meaningless  words  '^  It  shall  dwell 
in  his  tabernacle  because  it  is  none  of  his  "  become, 
'^  There  shall  dwell  in  his  tent  that  which  is  none 
of  his" — viz.,  strangers. 

The  notable  passage  xix.  25-27  is  greatly  clarified. 
The  offensive  and  needless  mention  of  "  worms,"  to 
which  there  is  nothing  answering  in  the  Hebrew,  is 
dropped.  Job  had  just  expressed  a  wish  for  a  per- 
petual record  of  his  words  that  coming  generations 
might  know  his  chiim  to  rectitude.  This,  however, 
was  not  enough.  Hence  he  adds,  "  But  I  know  " — 
whatever  their  opinion  may  be;  '^I  know" — that 
my  Redeemer  liveth.  This  vindicator  will  stand  up 
upon  the  earth  in  a  future  day,  and  Job  will  see  him. 
That  vision  of  God  will  be  all  that  he  needs,  as  it  is 
an  assurance  of  peace  and  reconciliation.  It  will  be 
from  his  flesh,  and  as  his  body  is  said  to  have  been  de- 
stroyed, it  must  be  from  a  new  body,  which  implies 
a  resurrection.  In  the  margin  are  stated  the  other 
and  more  generally  accepted  views,  which  consider 
the  vision  as  made  ^'  without  the  flesh" — i.e.,  in  a 
disembodied  state,  and  that  Job  sees  God  ''  on  my 
side" — i.e.,  favorable,  and  "not  a  stranger" — i.e., 
not  hostile  or  estranged.  The  last  clause,  "  My  reins 
are  consumed  within  me,"  is  an  expression  of  intense 
longing. 

Chapter  xxi.  is  Job's  reply  to  the  assertion   that 


CHANGES   IN   THE    POETICAL   BOOKS.  115 

the  wicked  are  punished  in  this  life,  but  the  argu- 
ment is  embarrassed  in  the  Authorized  Version  by 
the  rendering  of  vv.  17-21,  wliich  tends  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  The  evil  is  corrected  in  the  revision, 
which  states  the  question, 

How  oft  is  it  that  the  lamp  of  the  wicked  is  put  out? 
That  their  caUimity  cometh  upon  them  ? 

so  as  to  imply  that  it  is  rare,  and  presents  the  state- 
ment, "  Ye  say,  God  layeth  up  His  iniquity  for  His 
children,"  as  an  objection  v/hicli  the  speaker  pro- 
ceeds to  answer  and  refate.  A  similar  correction  of 
the  argument  is  found  in  the  next  chapter,  vv.  19, 
20,  where  the  senseless  contrast  between  "  our  sub- 
stance is  not  cut  down"  and  ''  the  remnant  of  them 
the  lire  consumeth"  is  done  away  by  making  v.  20 
the  utterance  of  the  righteous,  in  accordance  with 
the  argument  of  Eliphaz,  thus  : 

Saying,  Surely  they  that  did  rise  up  against  us  are  cut  off, 
And  the  remnant  of  them  the  fire  hath  consumed. 

In  the  last  verse  of  the  chapter  a  curious  and  unin- 
telligible misrendering  ''  island  of  the  innocent"  is 
set  right.  In  ch.  xxiv.  the  alteration  of  v.  1,  "  Why, 
seeing  times  are  not  hidden  from  the  Almighty, 
do  they  that  know  Him  not  see  His  days  ?"  so 
as  to  make  it  ask. 

Why  are  times  not  laid  up  by  the  Almight3% 

And  why  do  not  they  which  know  Him  see  His  days  ? 

That  is,  why  does  He  not  appoint  a  period  of  assize, 
is  sustained  by  the  rest  of  the  chapter  which,  prop- 


116  OLD   TESTAMENT    EEVlSIOJf. 

erlj  speaking,  brings  out  the  fact  that  the  sufferings 
of  the  poor  and  the  wrong-doing  of  the  wicked  re- 
quire such  a  day  of  judgment,  which,  however,  does 
not  come.  In  ch.  xxvi.  the  senseless  rendering  of 
V.  5,  "  Dead  tilings  are  formed  from  under  the 
waters,"  etc.,  is  replaced  by  a  vivid  reference  to 
God's  control  over  departed  spirits  ;  the  obscurity  of 
V.  10,  '^  until  the  day  and  night  come  to  an  end," 
gives  way  to  a  poetical  view  of  the  arch  of  heaven  as 
marking  the  horizon  ;  and  in  the  last  verse  the  revi- 
sion finely  expresses  the  thought  that  what  is  seen  of 
God  in  nature's  most  striking  works  is  merely  the 
outskirts  of  His  ways,  and  bears  the  same  relation  to 
His  intrinsic  majesty  that  a  faint  whisper  does  to  the 
rolling  thunder.  Chapter  xxviii.,  in  vv.  3,  4,  which 
to  the  ordinary  reader  are  simply  darkness  visible, 
the  revision  shows  that  the  reference  is  to  man's 
boldness  and  success  in  mining,  and  in  v.  11  his  skill 
in  hindering  the  percolation  of  water  into  a  mine. 
Thus: 

He  breaketh  open  a  shaft  away  from  where  men  sojourn  ; 
They  are  forgotten  of  the  foot  ihat  passeth  by  ; 
They  hang  afar  from  men,  they  swing  to  and  fro. 

And  again  : 

He  bindeth  the  streams  that  they  trickle  not. 

In  ch.  xxx.  many  obscurities  are  removed.  In  v. 
20  ''thou  regardest  me  not^^  is  properly  changed 
to  ''thou  lookest  at  me" — i.e.,  in  silent  indiffer- 
ence, as  the  sense  requires.  In  xxxi.  31  an  obvious 
error  that  disturbs  the  sense  and  the  connection  is 


CHANGES   IN"   THE    POETICAL   BOOKS.  117 

amended  ;  and  in  35,  instead  of  the  prosaic  and  in- 
correct, "  Oh  that  one  would  hear  me  !  Behold,  my 
desire  is  that  the  Almighty  would  answer  me,"  the 
revision  reproduces  the  vigor  of  the  original, 

Oh  that  I  had  one  to  hear  me  ! 

(Lo,  here  is  my  signature,  let  the  Almighty  answer  me  ;) 

And  that  /  had  the  indictment  which  my  adversary  hath  written  ! 

Job  offers  to  affix  his  sign  manual  to  the  protesta- 
tions of  innocence  already  made,  and  prays  to  see  the 
charge  against  him,  which  is  very  different  from  the 
A.  y.'s  absurd  renderhig,  "  Oh  that  mine  adversary 
had  written  a  book  !"  In  xxxiii.  23,  "  If  there  be  a 
messenger  ...  to  show  unto  man  his  uprightness," 
the  ambiguous  ^'  his  uprightness  "  is  made  "  what  is 
right  for  him,"  which  it  is  assumed  the  sufferer  fol- 
lows, whereupon  God  becomes  gracious  to  him.  The 
result  is  shown  in  vv.  25,  26,  where  the  i-evision  justly 
puts  the  tenses  in  the  present.  In.  v.  27  a  consider- 
able alteration  is  made,  to  the  great  improvement  of 
the  sense.  Instead  of  the  incoherent,  "  He  looketh 
upon  men  ;  and  if  any  say,  I  have  sinned,"  etc.,  we 
have  the  verse  rendered  as  an  expression  of  the  re- 
stored sinner's  thankfulness, 

He  singeth  before  men,  and  saith, 
I  have  sinned,  etc. 

And  the  next  verse  states  not  a  prediction,  '^  He  will 
deliver  his  soul,"  but  a  fact.  He  hath  delivered  my 
soul  from  going  into  the  pit.  In  xxxiv.  6,  23,  31, 
33,  34,  36  are  important  changes,  which  render  the 
course  of  thought  m.uch  clearer.     The  same  is  true 


118  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION". 

of  XXXV.  1-3  and  12-16,  where  tlie  original  is  ob- 
scure, Ttud  often  there  is  only  a  choice  of  difficul- 
ties. In  xxxvi.  18  the  well-known  rendering  of  the 
Authorized  Version,  "  heivare\estIiQ  take  thee  away 
with  Uls  stroke"  is  perforce  abandoned,  and  a  quite 
dijBFerent  turn  given  to  the  passage.     Thus  : 

Because  there  is  wrath,  beware  lest  thou  be  led  away  by  thy 

sufficiency  ; 
Neither  let  the  greatness  of  the  ransom  turn  thee  aside. 

The  last  two  verses,  ''With  clouds  He  covereth  the 
light,  and  commandeth  it  not  to  shine  by  the  cloud 
that  Cometh  betwixt.  The  noise  thereof  sheweth 
concerning  it,  the  cattle  also  concerning  the  vapor," 
which  are  so  dark,  are  made  intelligible  in  the  revi- 
Bion,  which  represents  God  as  covering  His  hands 
with  lightning  and  sending  it  in  the  right  direction, 
so  that  thunder  announces  the  fact,  and  even  the  cat- 
tle are  apprized  of  the  coming  storm.  In  xxxviii. 
14:,  instead  of  the  clay  turning  to  the  seal,  the  revi- 
sion reads,  "It  is  changed  as  clay  under  the  seal  ;" 
— that  is,  nnder  the  light  of  the  dawn  the  earth  takes 
shape  as  clay  does  when  impressed  by  the  seal,  and 
all  things  stand  forth  as  a  many-colored  garment. 
In  xxxix.  13  the  words  are  not,  as  in  the  Authorized 
Version,  a  challenge  concerning  the  creator  of  the 
peacock  and  the  ostrich,  "  Gavest  thou  the  goodly 
wings  to  the  peacocks?"  etc.,  but  between  the  latter 
bird's  strength  and  pride  of  wing  and  her  disposition 
as  shown  in  the  following  verses  : 

The  wing  of  the  ostrich  rejoiceth, 

Bat  are  her  pinions  and  feathers  kindly? 


CHANGES   IN   THE   POETICAL   BOOKS.  119 

In  xl.  23  the  Autliorized  Yersion  quite  mistakes  the 
sense  in  rendering,  ^'  he  drinketh  up  a  river  and 
hasteth  not  :  he  trnsteth  that  he  can  draw  up  Jordan 
into  his  mouth,"  the  true  sense  being 

Behold,  if  a  river  overflow,  he  trembleth  not  : 

He  is  confident  though  Jordan  swell  up  to  his  mouth. 

No  outbreak  of  water,  not  even  the  madly  rushing 
Jordan,  can  affright  him.     In  xh.  25  ''  By  reason  of 
breakings  they  purify  themselves"  becomes,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  original,  the  more  forcible, 
By  reason  of  consternation  they  are  beside  themselves. 

Such  is  the  terror  leviathan  inspires  even  among  the 
mighty. 

The  Psalms. — The  revision  of  this  book  was  at- 
tended with  peculiar  difficulty.  The  Psalter  does  not, 
like  Job,  have  its  most  obvious  interest  on  the  literary 
side,  althougli  it  has  a  great  charm  even  as  a  collec- 
tion of  ancient  Hebrew  lyrics.  But  for  generations 
it  has  been  endeared  to  multitudes  as  the  vehicle  of 
their  devotional  feelings,  the  companion  of  their 
worship,  their  solace  in  sickness,  their  resource  in 
every  time  of  trial  or  peril.  This  has  rendered  its 
words  and  phrases  inexpressibly  dear  ;  and  the  least 
alteration  seems  like  the  touch  of  a  desecrating  hand. 
It  is  fortunate  that  alteration  is  not  nearly  so  much 
called  for  here  as  in  some  other  books,  particularly 
in  Job.  The  early  English  translators  generally 
seized  the  sense  of  the  original,  and  expressed  it  with 
force  and  beauty,  yet  of  course,  for  the  reasons  that 
have  been  elsewhere   specified,   there   are  cases  in 


120  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION. 

wliicli  faitlifulness  requires  a  new  rendering.  It  is 
believed  that  in  tlie  main  the  revisers  have  been 
wisely  conservative. 

The  Psahns,  in  pursuance  of  an  old  custom,  are 
divided  into  five  books,  a  division  which  if  not  of  in- 
disputable authority  is  at  least  a  matter  of  conven- 
ience. The  superscriptions  being  a  part  of  the  Mas- 
soretic  text  are  retained,  but  the  endeavor  is  made  to 
represent  them  as  accurately  in  English  as  our  knowl- 
edge of  ancient  musical  terms  will  allow. 

In  the  second  Psalm  the  natural  division  of  this 
perfect  lyric  into  four  equal  parts  is  suggested  by  the 
spaces  after  vv.  3,  6  and  9.  The  slight  altera- 
tion in  the  last  verse,  "  For  His  wrath  will  soon  be 
kindled,"  in  place  of  "When  His  wrath  is  kindled 
but  a  little,"  is  in  accordance  with  the  weight  of 
critical,  authority.  In  Ps.  viii.  5  man  is  said  '^  to 
have  been  made  a  little  lower  than  God,"  which  ex- 
actly conforms  to  the  Hebrew.  The  Authorized 
Version's  '*  lower  than  the  angels  "  was  taken  from 
the  LXX.  (who  were  copied  by  the  Yulgate),  whose 
words  are  quoted  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (ii. 
T),  where  they  fully  answer  the  needs  of  the  writer's 
argument.  But  the  quotation  in  the  N^ew  Testa- 
ment affords  no  reason  for  overlooking  the  strength 
of  the  Hebrew  original.  The  introduction  of  the 
divinfe  name  Jehovah  (in  place  of  Lord)  in  the  first 
verse  and  the  last  adds  greatly  to  the  force  and 
beauty  of  the  psalm.  In  Ps.  ix.  the  confusion  and 
obscurity  of  v.  6  are  admirably  removed  by  a  ver- 
sion which  brings  God's  overthrow  of  the  wicked 


CHA2TGES   IK  THE    POETICAL   BOOKS.  121 

into  marked  contrast  with  the  fact  tliat  He  sits  as 
king  forever.  In  Ps.  x.  every  verse  except  the  tirst 
is  more  or  less  changed  with  the  effect  on  the  whole 
of  greatly  increasing  the  vividness  of  the  character- 
ization. In  xi.  2  the  snbstitution  of  ''  in  darkness" 
for  ''privily"  is  one  of  many  instances  in  which  a 
literal  version  is  more  expressive  than  any  para- 
phrase. The  16th  Psalm  is  greatly  improved.  Its 
general  theme  is  that  God  is  all  in  all  to  the  believer, 
and  this  is  well  given  in  the  new  rendering  of  v.  2, 

I  have  said  unto  the  Lokd,  Thou  art  my  Lord  ; 
I  have  no  good  beyond  Thee. 

In  V.  10  the  revision  substitutes  for  the  misleading 
"  in  hell,"  the  literal  rendering  "  to  Sheol,"  which 
means  that  the  sins^er's  soul  is  not  to  be  abandoned 
to  the  state  of  the  dead.  The  change  of  the  same 
word  in  xviii.  5  shows  that  the  writer  there  was 
not  complaining  of  hellish  sorrows,  but  of  the  net- 
work of  the  unseen  world  closing  around  him. 
The  cords  of  Sheol  were  round  about  me. 

In  this  psalm,  "  prevent,"  used  in  its  obsolete  sense, 
is  twice  (5,  18)  exchanged  for  "came  upon."  In 
Ps.  XX.  the  omission  of  where  supplied  by  the 
Authorized  Version  in  v.  3  shows  the  true  sense  of 
the  original — viz.,  that  the  heavens  without  articu- 
late language  declare  the  divine  glory.  The  omis- 
sion of  the  article  before  "  great  "  in  v.  18  brings  out 
the  true  sense,  that  the  suppliant  will  escape,  not  one 
pre-eminent  sin,  but  "much  transgression."  In 
xxii.  29,  30  the  changes  made  indicate  that  both  the 


133  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION", 

prosperous  and  tlie  poor,  even  those  ready  to  perish, 
shall  join  in  the  feast  held  in  honor  of  the  great  sah 
vation,  and  that  it  shall  be  related  to  coming  genera- 
tions. 

All  the  fat  ones  of  the  earth  shall  eat  and  -worship  : 

All  they  that  go  down  to  the  dust  shall  bow  before  Him, 

Even  he  that  cannot  keep  his  soul  alive. 

A  seed  shall  serve  him  ; 

It  shall  be  told  of  the  Lord  unto  the  next  generation. 

The  space  at  v.  21  indicates  the  transition  from  suf- 
fering and  outcry  to  praise  and  triumph.  In  xxvii. 
13,  instead  of  supplying  words  to  make  out  the  sense, 
the  revision  resolves  the  construction  into  an  aposi- 
opesis, 

Oh,  had  I  not  believed  to  see  the  goodness  of  the  Lord 
In  the  land  of  the  living — 

leaving  the  imagination  to  suggest  the  consequence 
of  a  different  course.  In  xxviii.  8  "  the  saving 
strength  of  His  anointed  "  becomes  '^  a  stronghold  of 
salvation  to  His  anointed."  With  an  equal  increase 
of  vigor  the  9th  verse  of  the  next  psalm  is  made  to 
read,  "  And  in  His  temple  everything  saith.  Glory," 
instead  of  ''every  one  doth  speak  of  Ills  glory." 
In  xxxii.  8  the  incomprehensible  "  1  will  guide  thee 
with  mine  eye' '  becomes  ' '  I  will  counsel  thee  with 
mine  eye  upon  thee,"  as  the  Hebrew  requires.  In 
xxxvii.  3  the  impossible  rendering  of  the  Authorized 
"Version,  ''  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed,"  is  replaced  by 
""  Follow  after  faithfulness,"  and  in  v.  37  the  true 
translation  is  given  in  the  margin,  "  there  is  a  latter 
end  to  the  man  of  peace." 


CHANGES    IN   THE    POETICAL    BOOKS.  123 

Book  II. — In  xliv.  2  tlie  cliange  is  intended  to 
bring  out  wheat  all  admit  to  be  the  meaning  of  tlie 
Hebrew,  that  God  drove  out  the  nations,  but  planted 
His  own  followers  in  their  place,  and  afflicted  other 
peoples,  but  spread  abroad  His  own.  In  xlv.  13  the 
king's  daughter  is  all  glorious  not  ^'  within,"  as  the 
Authorized  Version  ambiguously  says,  but  '^  within 
the  palace."  The  changes  in  xlix.  are  of  great  im- 
portance in  exhibiting  the  meaning  of  this  interest- 
ing and  important  lyric.  They  show  that  the  "  in- 
iquity" mentioned  in  v.  5  is  not  the  speaker's,  but 
his  foes'  ;  that  the  ''redemption"  of  v.  8  is  not 
atonement,  but  deliverance  from  temporal  death  ;  and 
(vv.  14,  15)  that  death  rules  over  the  rich  and  hon- 
ored, while  God  "receives"  the  believer.  The 
poetical  vigor  of  the  original  is  well  set  forth  in  the 
rendering  proposed  for  v.  14  : 

They  are  appointed  as  a  flock  for  Sheol ; 
Death  shall  be  their  shepherd. 

In  1.  8  the  Authorized  Version  implies  that  though 
the  Jews  neglected  burnt  offerings,  this  was  of  no 
account,  whereas  the  true  sense  is  that  they  did  not 
neglect  this  duty,  but  gave  to  it  an  optcs  operatum 
efficacy.  In  Ivi.  19  the  utterance,  true  enough  in 
itself,  "  Because  they  have  no  changes  they  fear  not 
God,"  is  replaced  by  the  stricter  rendering,  "  The 
men  who  have  no  changes  and  who  fear  not  God." 
The  first  verse  of  Ixii.,  "  Truly  my  soulwaiteth  upon 
God,"  is  made  to  read,  "My  soul  waiteth  only  upon 
God."     The  change  of  truly  to  6>nZy  gives  to  the 


124  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

original  Hebrew  word  tlie  same  sense  the  Authorized 
Version  gives  it  in  vv.  2,  5,  6,  and  thus  preserves 
a  characteristic  feature  of  the  psahn.  Tlie  self- 
consistency  of  Ps.  Ixvii.  as  a  harvest  song  is  preserved 
by  changing,  "  Then  shall  the  earth  yield  her  in- 
crease "  (v.  6)  into  the  more  faithful,  "The  earth 
hath  yielded,"  etc.  The  sublime  but  difficult  68th 
Psalm  is  much  improved.  Yerses  15,  16,  dark  in 
the  Authorized  Version,  "  The  hill  of  God  is  as  the 
hill  of  Bashan  ;  an  high  hill,  as  the  hill  of  Bashan. 
Why  leap  ye,  ye  high  hills  ?  this  is  the  hill,"  etc., 
are  so  rendered  as  to  show  that  so  exalted  is  the  hill 
where  God  dwells  that  even  lofty  mountains  like 
Bashan  "  look  askance"  at  it. 

A  mountain  of  God  is  the  mountain  of  Bashan  ; 

An  high  mountain  is  the  mountain  of  Bashan. 

Why  look  ye  askance,  ye  high  mountains, 

At  the  mountain  which  God  hath  desired  for  His  abode  ? 

In  Ixix.  22  the  cumbersome  list  of  supplied  words, 
"  that  which  should  have  heen  for  their  welfare,"  is 
neatly  supplanted  by  "  when  they  are  in  peace."  In 
Ixxi.  16  the  fine  utterance,  "  I  will  go  in  the  strength 
of  the  Lord  God,"  gi^es  way  to  the  more  exact  sen- 
timent, "  I  will  come  with  the  mighty  acts  of  the 
Lord  Jehovah." 

Book  TIL — In  Ixxii.  15  the  obscure  ^'  he  shall  live" 
of  the  Authorized  Version  is  changed  into  "  they 
shall  live,"  and  the  clause  is  so  connected  with  what 
precedes  as  to  show  that  the  words  refer  not  to  the 
king,  but  to  His  subjects.  Their  blood  is  so  precious 
in  His  sight  that  so  far  from  suffering  it  to  be  shed. 


CHANGES   IJSr    THE    POETICAL   BOOKS.  125 

He  will  cause  tliem  to  live  on.  In  v.  16  the  striking 
contrast  between  a  handful  of  seed  corn  and  a  har- 
vest waving  like  Lebanon  disappears,  because  it  is 
not  found  in  the  original.  In  vv.  17-19  the  word 
''  blessed  "  occurs  in  the  Authorized  Version  four 
times  ;  in  one  case  the  revision  puts  it  ''  happy," 
because  a  different  word  occurs  in  the  Hebrew.  The 
famihar  phrase  (Ixxvi.  10),  ''  The  remainder  of  WTath 
thou  wilt  restrain,"  is  supplanted  by  this  stronger 
utterance,  "  slialt  thou  gird  upon  thee" — i.e.,  as  a 
sword  belt  or  weapon,  because  the  Hebrew  means 
this.  So  for  the  same  reason,  in  the  2d  verse  of  the 
next  psalm,  "my  sore  ran  in  the  night"  becomes 
"  vny  hand  was  stretched  out  in  the  night."  In  Ps. 
Ixxxiv:  the  obscurities  of  vv.  5,  6,  "  in  whose  heart 
are  the  ways  of  them ;  who  passing  through  the 
valley  of  Baca,"  etc.,  are  removed,  and  we  learn  in- 
stead the  happiness  of  those 

In  whose  heart  are  the  highways  to  Zion. 

Passing  through  the  valley  of  weeping  they  make  it  a  place  of 

sjDrings  ; 
Yea,  the  early  rain  covereth  it  with  blessings. 

In  the  fine  missionary  psalm  Ixxxv.  4  a  slight 
change  of  the  prepositions  shows  that'  Rahab  and 
Babylon  not  merely  receive  communications  from 
God,  but  are  actually  counted  among  His  people — 
which  accords  with  the  whole  tenor  of  the  song. 

Book  \Y. — In  xc.  11  the  enigmatical  "according 
to  thy  fear,  so  is  thy  wrath  "  is  resolved  into  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  question  preceding,  and  so  becomes 
clear, 


126  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

Who  knoweth  the  power  of  Thine  anger, 

And  thy  wrath  according  to  the  fear  that  is  due  Tinto  Thee  ? 

So  in  the  next  verse  "  to  get  a  heart  of  wisdom"  is 
stronger  as  well  as  more  exact  than  ' '  to  apply  our 
hearts  nnto  wisdom."  In  xcii.  14  the  trees  of  the 
Lord  instead  of  being  "fat  and  flourishing,"  as  in 
the  Authorized  Version,  are  "  full  of  sap  and  green," 
which  is  at  once  appropriate  and  faithful.  In  c.  3, 
instead  of  "  He  hath  made  us  and  not  we  ourselves," 
the  revision  reads,  '' He  that  hath  made  us  and  we 
are  His,"  following  the  Keri,  and  getting  a  more 
emphatic  and  suitable  sense.  In  civ.  4  the  clause 
''who  maketh  His  angels  spirits,"  which  conveys 
little  or  no  meaning  to  the  reader,  becomes  "who 
maketh  winds  His  messengers."  The  rudest  blasts 
are  ouly  agents  that  do  His  will. 

Book  Y. — In  ex.  3  the  grammatically  impossible 
rendering  "  Thy  people  shall  he  wilHng  in  the  day  of 
thy  power"  gives  place  to  "  Thy  peo]>le  offer  them- 
selves willingly" — i.e.,  are  cheerful  recruits  when 
the  host  is  mustered.  In  cxvi.  10,  instead  of  the 
Authorized  Version  "I  believed,  therefore  have  I 
spoken,"  which  violates  the  tense  forms,  the  revision 
renders  literally  "  I  believed,  for  I  will  speak," 
which  has  much  the  same  meaning — viz.,  that  His 
speech  implies  antecedent  faith.  A  more  important 
change  is  in  the  next  verse,  where  all  men  are  declared 
to  be  not  "hars,"  which  here  must  mean  morally 
false,  but  "  a  lie"— that  is,  an  uncertain  dependence, 
upon  which  no  one  can  count.  In  cxix.  61  "  The 
bands  of  the  wicked  have  robbed  me"  becomes  "  The 


CHANGES   Iiq"  THE   POETICAL   BOOKS.  127 

cords  of  the  wicked  have  wrapped  me  around,"  as 
the  Hebrew  demands.  In  v.  113,  for  the  same  rea- 
son, ^^  they  that  are  of  a  double  mind  "  rather  than 
**  vain  thoughts"  are  made  the  objects  of  the  writer's 
hatred.  In  cxxxix.  15,  16  the  reference  to  the  for- 
mation of  man  before  birth  is  made  much  plainer. 
''  Mj  substance  w^as  not  hidden  from  thee"  becomes 
*' mj  frame  was  not  hidden  from  thee."  And  in- 
stead of  the  dark,  ^'  [members]  which  in  continuance 
were  fashioned,"  we  read,  '^  which  day  by  day  w^ere 
fashioned,"  referring  to  the  gradual  growth  of  the 
embryo.  In  cxliv.  14  a  few  changes  made  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Hebrew  render  the  description  of 
prosperity  stronger. 

That  our  oxen  may  be  well  laden  ; 

That  there  be  no  breaking  in  nor  going  forth 

And  no  outcry  in  our  streets. 

The  Book  of  Peoverbs. — This  is  the  longest  speci- 
men of  the  gnomic  poetry  of  the  Hebrews.  In  it 
the  didactic  rather  than  the  emotional  element  pre- 
vails, and  the  chief  design  is  to  give  instruction  by 
means  of  maxims  of  wisdom  conveyed  in  a  condensed 
and  often  antithetical  form.  And  although  on  some 
accounts  this  facilitates  the  work  of  the  translator, 
yet  in  other  respects  it  makes  it  harder.  For  occa- 
sionally condensation  is  pushed  to  the  extreme,  and 
there  are  allusions  and  references  which  are  remote, 
and  therefore  obscure. 

In  V.  16  the  Authorized  Version  reads,  '^  Let  thy 
fountains  be  dispersed  abroad,"  etc.,  which  is  in 
direct  contradiction  to  the  direction  in  v.  15.     Some 


128  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

remove  the  difficulty  by  inserting  a  7iot  before  ^'  dis- 
persed," bnt  the  revision  secures  the  same  end  by 
throwing  the  verse  into  the  form  of  a  question, 
^'  Should  thy  springs  be  dispersed,"  etc.  The  bed 
covering,  called  in  the  Authorized  Version,  viii.  16, 
^'  carved  works,  fine  linen  of  Egypt,"  the  revision 
correctly  renders  "  striped  cloths  of  the  yarn  of 
Egypt."  In  X.  23  ''It  is  as  sport  to  a  fool  to  do 
mischief  ;  but  a  man  of  understanding  hath  wisdom," 
the  revision  reads  the  second  clause,  "  And  so  is  wis- 
dom to  a  man  of  understanding,"  bringing  out  the 
fine  contrast  that  as  a  fool  delights  in  mischief,  so  a 
wise  man  does  in  understanding.  In  xiii.  15  the 
familiar  sentiment,  "  the  way  of  transgressors  is 
Lard,"  which  certainly  in  itself  is  a  just  and  weighty 
sentiment,  becomes  "  the  way  of  the  treacherous  is 
rugged,"  which  fairly  represents  the  original.  In 
xvi.  1  "  The  preparations  of  the  heart  in  man,  and 
the  answ^er  of  the  tongue,  is  from  the  Lord"  falls 
far  short  of  the  true  sense,  which  is  "  The  prepara- 
tions of  the  heart  belong  to  man,  but  the  answer  of 
the  tongue  is  from  the  Lord."  What  is  said  in  xviii. 
23,  "A  man  that  hath  friends  must  show  himself 
friendly,"  is  true  enough,  but  the  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  is,  "  He  that  maketh  many  friends  doeth  it 
to  his  own  destruction.'^  Indiscriminate  friendship 
is  ruinous.  It  is  not  easy  to  understand  the  Author- 
ized Version  in  xx.  30,  "  The  biueness  of  a  wound 
cleanseth  away  evil,"  but  the  revision  makes  the 
sense  plain,  "  Stripes  that  wound  cleanse  away  evil" 
— i.e.,  severe  discipline  is  effectual.     In  xxiv.  34  (as 


CHANGES   IN   THE   POETICAL   BOOKS.  129 

in  vi,  11)  it  is  said  to  the  slothful,  ''  So  shall  thy  pov- 
erty come  as  one  that  travelleth,- '  which  is  not  very 
clear.  The  revision  renders  the  concluding  phrase, 
''  as  a  robber,"  which  gives  a  good  sense  and  com- 
pletes the  parallelism.  The  -well-known  comparison 
of  a  word  fitly  spoken  to  ^'  apples  of  gold  in  pictures 
of  silver"  is  made  vivid  by  changing  "  pictures" 
to  "  baskets,"  w^ith  margin  '' filigree  work."  The 
golden  fruit  gleams  through  the  meshes  of  the  net- 
work. It  is  true,  as  the  Authorized  Yersion  says  in 
xxviii.  25,  "  lie  that  is  of  a  proud  heart  stirreth  up 
strife,"  but  the  more  exact  rendering  of  the  first 
words  is  "  He  that  is  of  a  greedy  spirit."  In  xxxi. 
11  the  Authorized  Version  says  of  the  virtuous 
woman  that  her  husband  trusteth  in  her,  *' so  that 
he  shall  have  no  need  of  spoil,"  but  the  revision,  fol- 
lowing the  Hebrew,  says,  "And  he  shall  have  no 
lack  of  gain." 

EccLEsiASTES. — Tliis  book,  although  classed  among 
the  poetical  writings,  and  though  it  has  proverbial 
utterances  (as  in  viii.  l-l-I),  and  at  least  in  one  place 
a  passage  of  lofty  poetical  feeling  (xi.  9 — xii.  8),  still 
in  the  main  belongs  rather  to  prose,  and  accordingly 
is  printed  as  such.  It  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  its  age  and  author- 
ship are  still  stoutly  contested.  Many  of  its  utter- 
ances are  obscure  in  wdiatever  w\ay  they  are  trans- 
lated, and  in  tliese  the  pains  taken  by  the  revisers 
show  little  fruit.  But  there  are  others  in  which  a 
slight  change  adds  greatly  to  the  case  of  compre- 
hension. 


130  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION. 

In  i.  11  ^'  There  is  no  remembrance  of  former 
things,^^  the  revision  puts  generations  as  the  supphed 
word,  which  agrees  better  with  the  Hebrew  and  the 
connection,  making  the  whole  verse  a  declaration  of 
the  emptiness  of  all  earthly  fame  ;  a  fitting  conclu- 
sion to  the  prologue  of  this  melancholy  book.  In  v. 
Itt  occurs  an  utterance,  often  repeated  afterward, 
''  All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. "  The  revision, 
in  conformity  with  most  critics,  renders,  "All  is 
vanity  and  a  striving  after  wind."  In  ii.  25  "  For 
who  can  eat,  or  who  else  can  hasten  hereunto,  more 
than  I  ?"  the  revision  removes  an  obscurity  by  ren- 
dering the  second  clause,  '^  who  can  have  enjoy- 
ment V  There  is  a  very  great  gain  in  the  new  ren- 
dering of  vii.  11,  '^"Wisdom  is  good  with  an  in- 
heritance, and  hy  it  there  is  profit  to  them  that  see 
the  sun."  The  revision  renders  more  accurately, 
''  wisdom  is  as  good  as  an  inheritance  ;  yea,  more 
excellent  is  it  for  them  that  see  the  sun."  In  xi. 
10  it  is  said,  "childhood  and  youth  are  vanity." 
The  sense  is  more  plain  in  the  revision,  "  youth  and 
the  prime  of  life  are  vanity."  In  the  fine  descrip- 
tion of  old  age  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  book,  in- 
stead of  "  desire  shall  fail"  (v.  5),  the  new  render- 
ing is  "  the  caper-berry  (a  restorative  and  stimulating 
article  of  food)  shall  fail" — i.e.^  lose  its  power  to 
rouse  and  revive.  In  v.  11,  instead  of  "  nails  fastened 
by  the  masters  of  assemblies,"  it  is  the  words  of 
these  masters  that  are  compared  to  nails  well  fast- 
ened. In  the  last  verse  but  one  the  revision  retains 
the  words   by  which   the  Authorized   Version  en- 


CHANGES   IN  THE   POETICAL   BOOKS.  131 

forces  the  charge  to  fear  God  and  keep  His  com- 
mandments, "  For  tliis  is  the  whole  dutf/  of  man," 
but  iu  the  margin  gives  what  many  consider  the  only 
possible  rendering  of  the  Hebrew,  "  this  is  the  duty 
of  all  men." 

The  Song  of  Solomon. — The  pious  instinct  of 
believers  in  every  age  and  land,  aided  by  the  general 
analogy  of  Scripture — an  analogy  r mining  all  the  way 
through  from  the  Pentateuch  to  the  Apocalypse — has 
discerned  the  figurative  meaning  of  this  Song  of 
songs,  as  it  is  justly  entitled,  and  has  joyfully  used 
it  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  made  a  part  of 
divine  revelation.  But  its  exquisite  literary  beauty 
as  a  Hebrew  pastoral,  and  one  exceeding  all  other 
poems  of  the  kind,  has  in  large  measure  escaped  the 
common  apprehension,  because  its  peculiar  form  as  a 
dramatic  song,  implying  two  chief  interlocutors  and 
a  sort  of  refrain  or  chorus,  has  not  been  recognized. 
It  is  desirable  that  this  should  be  expressed  in  some 
way,  and  if  not  by  attaching  names  {e.g.,  Solomon 
and  the  Shulamite)  to  the  mutual  responses,  at  least 
by  putting  a  space  between  them,  to  indicate  that 
there  is  a  dialogue.  The  poem  turns  upon  the  ex- 
pression of  the  strongest  passion  of  our  nature,  and  is 
marked  with  Oriental  abandon,  yet,  unlike  all  other 
pastorals,  Latin,  Greek  or  Eastern,  it  has  not  the 
vestige  of  a  putrid  stain,  and  nowhere  needs  to  be 
apologized  for  or  to  have  omissions  marked  with 
stars.  An  unseen  but  irresistible  hand  warded  off 
the  touch  of  pollution,  and  kept  the  emotion  which 
glows  like  a  very  flame  of  Jehovah  from  overleaping 


132  OLD   TESTAMENT   llEVISION. 

decorum  or  modest}^  'No  part  of  tlie  poetical  books 
more  required  the  hand  of  revision,  since  in  the 
common  version  the  connection  of  the  paragraphs 
was  not  exhibited,  and  the  force  of  not  a  few  terms 
was  misunderstood.  It  would  be  claiming  too  mucli 
to  assert  that  all  infelicities  have  been  removed  in 
the  present  revision,  but  it  is  certain  that  a  very 
great  improvement  has  been  made.  The  dramatic 
element  is  brought  out,  the  poetry  is  made  clearer, 
the  descriptions  are  rendered  intelligible,  and  the 
general  effect  of  the  entire  song  is  made  obvious  to 
the  careful  reader.  It  should  be  added  that  the  dis- 
tribution into  paragraphs  is  not  arbitrary  or  a  matter 
of  mere  taste,  but  determined  by  the  changes  of 
gender  in  the  Hebrew,  which  clearly  show  whether 
it  is  the  Shulamite  or  the  object  of  her  affection  that 
is  speaking.  Thus  it  is  the  bride  who  calls  herself 
*^  a  rose  of  Sharon,  a  lily  of  the  valleys,' '  and  accord- 
ingly it  is  a  male  voice  that  resj^onds,  "As  a  hly 
among  thorns,  so  is  my  love  among  the  daughters." 

In  i.  15  the  Authorized  Version  has '' thou  hast 
doves'  eyes,"  but  the  true  sense  is  "'thine  eyes  are 
as  doves" — i.e.,  resemble  their  jDlumage.  In  ii.  5 
"  flafyons"  is  chano-ed  to  "raisins,"  meanino:  the 
pressed  cakes  of  that  fruit.  In  v.  7  the  adjuration 
to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  "  stir  not  up  nor 
awake  my  love  till  he  please  "  is  made  to  read,  "  nor 
awake  love  until  it  please" — i.e.,  till  love  awakes 
of  itself.  (And  so  in  iii.  5  and  viii.  4.)  Genuine 
love  is  a  shy  and  gentle  affection  which  dreads  intru- 
sion and  delights  in  spontaneity. 


CHAKGES   IN   THE    POETICAL   BOOKS.  133 

The   loth    verse   has   its   point   and   poetry    well 
brought  out  by  the  accurate  rendering  : 

The  fig-tree  ripeneth  her  green  figs, 
And  the  vines  are  in  blossom, 
They  give  forth  their  fragrance. 

The  obscure  clause  in  the  next  verse,  '^  secret  places 
of  the  stairs,"  is  made  plain  by  the  literal  version, 
^' the  covert  of  the  steep  place."  That  iii.  Y  gives 
the  answer  to  the  question  in  the  verse  preceding 
'^  who  is  this  that  cometh  out  of  the  wilderness," 
etc.,  is  shown  by  the  rendering,  ^^  Behold,  it  is  the 
litter  of  Solomon."  This  litter  is  spoken  of  again 
(v.  9)  not  as  ''  a  chariot"  (Authorized  Yersion),  but 
as  "a  palanquin,"  a  portable  seat  or  couch,  the  costly 
structure  of  which  is  then  recounted.  In  iv.  3  (and 
vi.  7)  the  temples  of  the  bride  are  compared  to  a 
piece  of  pomegranate,  not  ''  within  thy  locks,"  as  the 
Authorized  Yersion,  but  '' behind  thy  vail."  The 
pleasing  combination  of  white  and  red  shines  through 
the  diaphanous  material.  In  vi.  12  the  clause,  ''my 
soul  made  me  like  the  chariots  of  Ammi-nadib,"  is 
changed  to  "  %Qi\\\Q  among  \X\q  chariots  of  my  willing 
people,"  which  suggests  some  meaning  congruous  to 
the  connection,  while  the  former  is  hopelessly  blind. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  change  in  v.  13.  "  The 
company  of  two  armies  "  is  far  less  suggestive  than 
"the  dance  of  two  comj^anies."  In  the  seventh 
chapter  the  Oriental  coloring  of  the  poem  is  pre- 
served by  changing  "  shoes"  of  the  Authorized  Yer- 
sion into  "sandals,"  and  adding  to  "the  joints  of 
thy  thighs,"  the  margin,    "  Thy  rounded  thighs," 


134  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

wliicli  is  beyond  doubt  the  true  sense.  For  v.  9, 
*'  The  roof  of  thy  moutli  hke  the  best  wine  for  my 
beloved,  that  goeth  down  sweetly,"  etc.,  there  is  the 
better  as  well  as  more  exact  rendering, 

And  thy  mouth  like  the  best  wine, 

That  goeth  down  smoothly  for  my  beloved, 

Gliding  through  the  lij)s  of  those  that  are  asleep. 

In  the  animated  description  of  love  (viii.  6,  7)  the 
comparison  in  the  words  "  the  coals  thereof  are 
coals  of  lire,  which  hath  a  most  vehement  flame"  is 
made  much  more   vivid  by  the  literal  rendering, 

The  flashes  thereof  are  flashes  of  fire, 
A  very  flame  of  Jehovah. 

In  V.  12  the  saying  '^  thou,  O  Solomon,  must 
have  a  thousand  "  is  very  obscure  in  itself  and  in  the 
connection.  A  part  of  the  obscurity  at  least  is  re- 
moved by  the  literal  rendering,  "  thou,  O  Solomon, 
shalt  have  the  thousand,"  which  refers  back  to  the 
preceding  verse,  where  a  thousand  pieces  of  silver 
was  mentioned  as  the  ample  product  of  Solomon's 
vinejard  at  Baal-Ham  on.  Here  the  Shulamite  de- 
clares that  to  him  shall  be  the  whole  result  of  the 
allegorical  vineyard — viz.,  herself. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CHANGES    IN   THE    PROPHETICAL   BOOKS. 

The  writings  of  tlie  prophets  are  framed  largely 
on  the  model  of  tlie  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  and 
abound  in  the  use  of  parallelisms,  so  that  by  some 
editors  they  are  printed  in  couplets  just  as  the 
Psalms  and  the  Song  of  Solomon.  But  as  the 
writers  frequently  give  up  this  peculiarity,  and  for 
the  most  part  utter  what  they  have  to  say  in  ordinary 
prose,  the  revision  here  adheres  to  the  usage  of  the 
Authorized  Yersion,  making  an  exception  only  in 
those  cases  where  the  poetic  form  and  spirit  plainly 
contrast  with  that  which  precedes  and  follows,  e.g.^ 
the  prayer  of  Jonah  and  the  sublime  ode  in  the  3d 
chapter  of  Habakkuk,  and  the  whole  of  the  Lamen- 
tations of  Jeremiah,  which  are  evidently  of  a  lyric 
character.  The  division  into  paragraphs  is  suggested 
either  by  the  short  titles  given  in  the  text,  as  in  Isaiah 
xxi,  11,  13,  where  "The  burden  of  Dumah"  and 
"The  burden  upon  Arabia"  obviously  imply  the 
transition  to  a  new  theme,  or  by  the  internal  structure 
of  other  parts  wdiere  the  prophet  passes  from  one  sub- 
ject to  another. 

Isaiah. — In  i.  31  the  Authorized  Version  renders, 
"  The  strong  shall  be  as  tow  and  the  maker  of  it  a 


136  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION". 

spark,"  wliicli  is  very  obsenre.  The  revision  re- 
moves the  difficulty  by  rendering  the  second  clause, 
''and  his  work  as  a  spark,"  which  means  that  the 
idol  the  strono;  man  makes  shall  kindle  a  devourino^ 
flame  to  the  destruction  of  both.  The  well-known 
passage  in  iii.  18-2^,  which  describes  the  punisiiment 
of  female  luxury  by  the  removal  of  all  ornaments  of 
dress,  is  rendered  much  more  intelligible  by  attach- 
ing to  the  terms  used  the  meaning  now  generally 
accepted  among  archaeologists.  It  is  not  worth 
while  here  to  mention  the  items  in  detail,  except  to 
say  that  the  change  in  the  second  clause  of  v.  24,  "  in- 
stead of  a  girdle  a  rope,"  suggests  the  contrast  be- 
tween a  richly  ornamented  belt  and  the  common  rope 
used  by  the  poorest  classes.  In  the  fourth  chapter 
the  revision,  putting  the  new  paragraph  at  the  sec- 
ond verse,  makes  the  connection  much  more  clear, 
since  the  first  verse  evidently  belongs  to  what  pre- 
cedes. In  V.  17,  "Then  shall  the  lambs  feed  after 
their  manner,  and  the  waste  places  of  the  fat  ones 
shall  strangers  eat,"  the  changes  of  "after  their 
manner"  to  ''as  in  their  pasture,"  and  of  "  strang- 
ers "  into  "wanderers,"  bring  out  the  sense  that 
the  lands  of  the  Jews  are  to  become  a  mere  pasture 
ground  for  the  flocks  of  wandering  shepherds.  The 
comparison  of  Israel  with  a  teil  tree  casting  its 
leaves,  in  vi.  13,  is  dark  in  the  Authorized  Version, 
but  becomes  clear  when  the  land  is  said  to  be  com- 
pared to  a  terebinth  or  an  oak  Vvdiose  stock  (or  sub- 
stance) remaineth  even  when  they  are  felled,  and  can 
again  put  forth  shoots.     So  with  Israel  :  after  repeated 


CHANGES    IX    THE    PROrHETICAL   BOOKS.  137 

desolations,  still  there  is  a  holy  seed,  a  remnant  accord- 
ing to  the  election  of  grace  (Ivom.  xi.  5),  to  be  the 
stock  thereof.  In  vii.  15,  "  Butter  and  honey  shall  he 
eat  that  he  may  know  to  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the 
good,"  the  change  of  "  that  he  may  know"  to  '^  when 
Jie  knoweth,"  shows  that  even  when  the  child  to  be 
born  comes  to  the  ao'e  when  he  discerns  between 
good  and  evil,  he  is  to  eat  ''  butter  (curds)  and 
honey,"  the  diet  of  a  sparse  population  and  a  neg- 
lected tillage  ;  a  token  that  God's  judgments  have 
come.  So  in  the  next  verse  we  are  not  to  read, 
**the  land  that  thou  abhorrest  shall  be  forsaken  of 
both  her  kings,"  which  is  not  what  Isaiah  means  to 
say,  but  ''  the  land  whose  two  kings  thou  abhorrest 
shall  be  forsaken."  The  alterations  in  v.  25  make 
plain  its  meaning  that  even  the  hills  which  once  had 
been  carefully  cultivated  should  become  mere  hunt- 
ing grounds  and  pastures.  In  viii.  12  a  "  confeder- 
acy" is  properly  changed  into  ^'conspiracy,"  since 
the  Hebrew  word  means  a  treasonable  combination. 
The  dark  clause  that  ends  v.  19,  ''  for  the  living  to 
the  dead,"  becomes  luminous  by  supplying  what  is 
implied.  ''  For  (or,  in  behalf  of)  the  living  shoidd 
they  seek  unto  the  dead  V '  a  pungent  rebuke  of 
all  necromancy,  modern  as  well  as  ancient.  The 
ninth  chapter  has  its  true  force  and  beauty  brought 
out  by  a  number  of  changes.  In  v.  1  Isaiah  does 
not  foretell  affliction  to  the  land  of  Zebulon,  etc., 
but  says  that  as  before  it  was  abased  now  it  should 
be  glorious.  So  in  v.  3,  instead  of  the  conundrum 
of  tlie  Authorized  Version,  ''  multiplying  the  nation 


138  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

and  not  increasing  tlie  joy,"  the  revision  takes  tiie 
reading  of  the  Keri^  and  renders  "  Thou  hast  multi- 
ph'ed  the  nation,  thou  hast  increased  their  joy," 
whicii  just  suits  the  context.  In  v.  5  tlie  Author- 
ized Version,  "  Every  battle  of  the  warrior  is  with 
confused  noise,  and  garments  rolled  in  blood  ;  but 
this  shall  be  with  burning  and  fuel  of  lire,"  is  hope- 
less, for  the  connection  has  no  reference  to  two 
sorts  of  battles.  The  revision  says,  ''  For  all  tlie 
armor  of  the  armed  man  in  the  tumult,  and  the  gar- 
ments rolled  in  blood,  shall  be  for  burning,  for  fuel 
of  fire."  So  complete  shall  be  the  reign  of  peace 
that  all  the  means  and  appurtenances  of  warfare 
shall  be  utterly  consumed.  It  was  a  felicitous  illus- 
tration of  the  terms  of  this  prophecy  when,  at  the 
close  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion,  large  bodies  of  the 
natives  were  disarmed,  and  it  took  a  week  or  more 
to  consume  by  fire  the  immense  number  of  varied 
weapons  that  were  surrendered.''^ 

"This  verse  is  one  of  those  quoted  by  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold 
in  his  "  Isaiah  of  Jerusalem"  as  illustrating  his  views  of  the 
method  to  be  adopted  by  revisers  of  the  English  Bible.  He 
quotes  the  amended  version  of  Prof.  Kobertson  Smith  and  also 
that  of  Mr.  Cheyne,  and  condemns  both  as  lacking  the  excel- 
lence of  the  old  version.  "The  charm  has  vanished  never  to 
return."  What  now  is  this  charm?  He  confesses  the  incor- 
rectness of  the  verse  as  it  stands,  saying  I'ranklj^  "No  one  of 
us  understands  clearly  what  this  means,  and,  indeed,  a  clear 
meaning  is  not  to  be  got  out  of  the  words,  which  are  a  mis- 
translation." But  then  to  balance  this  evil,  "they  have  a 
magnificent  glow  and  movement,"  "they  delight  the  ear  and 
move  us."  Could  there  be  a  more  conspicuous  instance  of 
dilettanteism  ?     Men  are  moved  not  by  sense,  but  by  sound. 


CHANGES    IN"    THE    PROPFIETICAL    BOOKS.  139 

In  xili.  22  we  read,  ^'  Tlie  wild  beasts  of  the 
islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses,  and  dragons 
in  their  pleasant  palaces,"  hut  the  revision  is  more 
correct,  as  well  as  clearer  and  more  forcible,  in  read- 

They  hea,r  or  read  something.  They  do  not  know  what  it 
means.  It  conveys  no  distinct  idea  to  the  mind.  Yet  somehow 
the  pomp  of  words  tickles  the  ear  and  awakens  agreeable  sen- 
sations. And  therefore  the  unintelligible  version  is  to  be  i>re- 
ferred  to  one  which,  without  being  particularly  smooth,  is  cer- 
tainly correct !  I  submit  that  this  is  true  neither  in  literature 
nor  in  religion.  In  the  case  of  any  ordinary  work  of  letters  no 
sensible  person  would  accept  a  beautiful  but  senseless  transla- 
tion in  place  of  one  that  gave  the  meaning  of  the  original,  and 
he  would  deem  it  an  insult  to  his  understanding  to  be  asked  to 
do  such  a  thing.  Much  more  is  this  the  case  when  the  work  in 
question  is  a  sacred  one — nay,  even  claims  to  be  a  divine  mes- 
sage. Here  it  is  not  the  words,  but  the  meaning  that  is  in  the 
■words,  that  is  intended  for  human  instruction  and  guidance. 
God  is  "a  God  of  knowledge,"  and  He  requires  knowledge  in 
acceptable  worshippers.  Truth  is  His  great  means  for  turning 
men  from  sin  to  holiness,  and  after  they  have  made  that  turn, 
for  building  them  up  into  the  complete  likeness  of  their  Saviour. 
Nothing  can  be  done  without  this.  Impressions  made  by  an}'- 
thing  else,  no  matter  how  deep  or  thrilling,  are  as  evanescent 
as  the  dew  that  goeth  early  away.  The  servant  of  God  is  strong 
and  stable  just  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  divine  truth 
he  has  understood  and  appropriated  and  made  absolutely  his 
own.  It  is  impossible  that  words  that  are  not  understood  can 
have  this  effect.  Whatever  influence  they  exert  "  upon  soul 
and  spirit"  is  superficial  and  temporary.  Take  the  case  of  this 
very  verse.  Is  there  any  comparison  between  a  vague  impres- 
sion of  power  and  grandeur  made  by  confused  noise  and  garments 
rolled  in  blood  as  features  of  a  battle,  and  the  weighty  truth 
taught  by  a  correct  version,  that  so  mighty  is  the  power  of  the 
coming  Prince  of  Peace  that  even  all  the  weapons  of  war,  offen- 
sive or  defensive,  shall  be  utterly  destroyed  ? 


140  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISIOX. 

ing — "wolves  shall  cry  in  tlieir  castles,  and  jackals 
in  tlieir  pleasant  palaces,"  a  vivid  picture  of  desola- 
tion. In  xiv.  29,  31  the  misleading  "  Palestina" 
is  rightly  changed  to  "  Philistia  ;"  for  what  is  meant 
is  not  the  entire  holy  land,  but  the  southwest  coast- 
plain  from  Ekron  to  Gaza,  as  in  Ps.  Ix.  S.  In  xvi.  1 
the  change  of  the  to  a  in  the  phrase  "  in  the  night" 
expresses  what  is  the  fact,  that  the  ruin  of  Moab 
came  in  a  single  night.  The  change  of  the  futures 
into  presents  in  vv.  2-5  is  according  to  the  original, 
and  makes  the  picture  much  more  vivid.  In  xvii.  9 
the  Authorized  Version  says  of  the  strong  cities  that 
they  "  shall  be  as  a  forsaken  bough  or  an  uttermost 
branch,  which  they  left  because  of  the  children  of 
Israel."  The  revision  renders  more  intelligently  and 
accurately  "  shall  be  as  the  forsaken  places  in  the 
wood  paid  on  the  mountain  top,  which  were  forsaken 
from  before  the  children  of  Israel."  Even  fortified 
cities  shall  become  as  desolate  as  the  forests  and  hill- 
tojjs  which  were  forsaken  at  the  time  of  the  Con- 
quest. In  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  the  altera- 
tions are  too  many  to  be  noticed  in  detail,  but  all  are 
sustained  by  authority,  and  add  exceedingly  to  the 
force  of  the  passage.  In  xviii.  1,  2  the  enigmatical 
description  of  Ethiopia  is  made  clear  by  changing 
"  Woe  to  the  land  shadowing  with  wings"  into  "  Ah 
the  land  of  the  rustling  of  wings,' '  and  the  direction, 
"to  a  nation  scattered  and  peeled,  ...  a  nation 
meted  out  and  trodden  down,  whose  land  the  rivers 
have  spoiled,"  so  as  to  read  "  to  a  nation  tall  and 
smooth,  ...  a  nation  that  meteth  out  and  treadeth 


CHANGES    IN   THE    PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  141 

down,  whose  land  the  rivers  divide  " — a  very  lively 
description  of  a  land  occupied  by  a  great  and  power- 
ful people,  here  understood  by  most  critics  to  be 
Ethiopia.  In  xix.  10  the  Authorized  Yersion, 
"  And  they  shall  be  broken  in  the  purposes  thereof, 
all  that  make  sluices  and  ponds  for  fish,"  being  con- 
fessedly a  mistranslation,  the  revision  reads,  ''And 
her  pillars  shall  be  broken  in  pieces,  all  that  work  for 
hire  shall  be  grieved  in  soul." 

In  xxi.  8  "And  he  cried,  a  lion,"  which  makes 
no  sense,  is  turned  into  ''  he  cried  as  a  lion  " — i.e.^ 
as  when  a  lion  roareth  (Rev.  x.  3).  In  xxii.  17,  in- 
stead of  threatening  "a  mighty  captivity,"  which 
scarcely  ap2:)lies  to  a  single  person,  the  revision  says 
that  "the  Lord  will  hurl  thee  away  violently  as  a 
strong  man,  yea,  He  will  wrap  thee  up  closely,"  the 
purpose  of  which  is  shown  in  the  next  verse,  "  will 
toss  thee  like  a  ball  into  a  large  country."  In  xxiii. 
4,  14,  the  abstract  "  strength"  is  j)roperly  changed 
to  the  concrete  "  stronghold,"  and  in  v.  10  "  Pass 
through  thy  land  as  a  river"  is  made  "  Overflow  thy 
land  as  the  Mle."  The  familiar  direction  (xxi v. 
15)  "  Glorify  the  Lord  in  tlie  fires"  is  necessarily 
changed  to  "  Glorify  the  Lord  in  the  East,"  which 
most  critics  agree  to  be  the  meaning.  The  old  ver- 
sion made  a  good  motto  for  the  afflicted  believer, 
but  there  is  a  plenty  of  others  as  excellent  in  the  Old 
Testament  as  well  as  in  the  New.  In  xxvi.  19,  instead 
of  "  Thy  dead  men  shall  live,  together  icith  my  dead 
body  shall  they  arise,"  we  have  the  briefer  and 
clearer  figure  of  a  resurrection,    "  Thy  dead  shall 


142  OLD   TESTAMENT  EEVISION. 

live  ;  my  dead  bodies  shall  arise."  A  beautiful  an- 
ticipation of  the  later  revelation  that  Christ's  people 
even  in  the  grave  are  still  united  to  Him  and  are 
His.  In  eh.  xxvii.  are  numerous  changes,  among  j' 
them  one  which  obliterates  the  familiar  utterance  : 
' '  He  stayeth  His  rough  wind  in  the  day  of  the ' 
east  wind"  (v.  8),  because  faithfulness  requires  that 
the  first  part  of  it  should  be  rendered,  ''He  hath 
removed  her  with  His  rough  blast,"  reciting  not  a 
promise  but  a  judgment.  In  xxviii.  7  the  omission 
of  the  supplied  words  in  the  Authorized  Version 
"  must  be,"  shows  that  the  statement  ''  it  is  precept 
upon  precept,  line  upon  line,"  simply  continues  the 
charge  in  the  preceding  verse  that  the  prophet  speaks 
to  the  people  as  to  children.  In  xxx.  7  another 
familiar  saying,  "  Your  strength  is  to  sit  still,"  dis- 
appears, because  the  Hebrew  is  simply  a  conclusion 
from  the  previous  assertion  of  Egypt's  inability  to 
help,  and  means,  ''  therefore  have  1  called  her 
Kahab  (or  arrogance)  that  sitteth  still."  In  xxxi.  9, 
instead  of  ' '  he  shall  pass  over  to  his  stronghold  for 
fear, ' '  the  true  rendering  is  that  the  stronghold  itself 
shall  cease  to  exist,  "  his  rock  shall  pass  away  by 
reason  of  terror."  In  xxxiii.  18,  instead  of  ''  Thine 
heart  shall  meditate  terror,"  as  if  in  view  of  a  pres- 
ent or  coming  calamity,  the  revision  reads,  ''  Thine 
heart  shall  muse  on  the  terror" — viz.,  that  which 
has  passed  away.  Hence  is  added  the  inquiry,  what 
has  become  of  those  who  caused  it  but  have  now 
disappeared.  ''  Where  is  he  that  counted,  where  is 
he  that  weighed  the  tribute  f  where  is  he  that  counted 


CHAiTGES  IN"  THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.          143 

the  towers  ?"  In  xxxvi.  12  a  very  desirable  euphe- 
mism is  introduced.  In  xH.  2,  instead  of  "  who  raised 
up  the  righteous  man,"  etc.,  the  revision  reads, 
*'  who  hath  raised  up  one  from  the  East  whom  He 
calleth  in  rioliteousness  to  His  foot  ?"  thus  transfer- 
ring  the  rigliteousness  from  Cyrus  (the  one  here  in- 
tended) to  Him  who  called  him.  In  xlii.  21  the 
force  of  the  familiar  text  about  magnifying  the 
law  is  enhanced  by  p)utting  the  whole  verse  into 
one  sentence,  '^  It  pleased  the  Lord  for  His  righteous- 
ness' sake  to  magnify  the  law  and  make  it  honor- 
able." In  xlvi.  1  the  obscure  archaism,  ''  your  car- 
riages were  heavy  loaden"  is  relieved  so  as  to  give 
liveliness  to  the  picture  of  idols  captured  and  re- 
moved— '^  the  things  that  ye  carried  about  are  made 
a  load,  a  burden  to  the  weary  beast.''''  In  xlvii.  1  the 
clauses,  "  sit  on  the  ground  ;  there  is  no  throne," 
are,  with  a  manifest  improvement,  thrown  into  one, 
"Sit  on  the  ground  without  a  throne,"  to  express 
Babylon's  humiliation.  In  xlix.  5,  by  using  the  read- 
ing of  the  Hebrew  Keri,  the  sense  is  greatly  im- 
proved. Instead  of  rendering  ''  And  now  saith  the 
Lord  .  .  .  Though  Israel  be  not  gathered,  yet  shall 
I  be  glorious,"  etc.,  the  revision  reads,  "  And  now 
saith  the  Lord  that  formed  me  to  be  His  servant,  to 
bring  Jacob  again  to  Him,  and  that  Israel  be  gathered 
unto  Him  (for  I  am  honorable  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord,  and  my  God  is  become  my  strength)  :  yea. 
He  saith,  It  is  too  light  a  thing,"  etc.  In  v.  7,  '^  be- 
cause of  the  Lord  that  is  faithful,  and  the  Holy 
One  of   Israel,   and  he  shall   choose   thee,"   gram- 


144  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION". 

mar  and  sense  are  both  consulted  in  changing  '^  and 
lie  shall  choose  thee"  to  "  who  hath  chosen  thee.'* 
Inl.  11  the  Authorized  Version  reads,  "  Behold  all  ye 
that  kindle  a  fire,  that  compass  yourselms  about  with 
sparks  ;  walk  in  the  light  of  your  fire  and  in  the  sparks 
that  ye  have  kindled."  The  revision  puts  it,  "  Be- 
hold, all  ye  that  kindle  a  fire,  that  gird  yourselves 
about  with  firebrands  ;  get  you  into  the  flame  of 
your  fire,  and  among  the  brands  ye  have  kindled." 
This  change  makes  more  striking  the  obvious  sense 
of  the  passage  that  the  fire  which  God's  foes  pre- 
pare for  His  servants  shall  be  the  cause  and  means  of 
their  own  destruction.  A  more  exact  rendering  of 
li.  14,  "  The  captive  exile  hasteth  tliat  He  may  be 
loosed,  and  that  he  should  not  die,"  etc.,  makes  it  as- 
sert not  an  effort  toward  freedom,  but  its  actual  ac- 
complishment. '^  The  exile  shall  sjDcedily  be  loosed, 
and  he  shall  not  die, ' '  etc. 

The  53d  chapter  of  the  evangelical  j)rophet  has  so 
long  been  endeared  to  the  hearts  of  devout  believers 
that  nearly  every  word  has  become  sacred,  like  the 
psalms,  and  no  change  can  fail  to  give  a  shock  to 
many  readers.  Yet  the  conviction  of  scholars  is  uni- 
versal that  in  not  a  few  instances  the  common  ver- 
sion fails  to  give  the  exact  sense  of  the  original. 
The  revision  begins  the  pericope  with  lii.  13,  as  is 
certainly  right,  and  removes  the  needless  and  dis- 
turbing confusion  of  tenses  in  vv.  2,  3,  such  as  '^  He 
shall  grow  up;"  ''when  we  shall  see  him ;"  "He 
is  despised  and  rejected. ' '  The  correction  of  these 
makes  the  description  more  coherent  and  impressive, 


CHANGES    IN   THE    PKOPHETICAL   BOOKS.  145 

as  one  contiimous  picture  of  lowliness  and  rejection. 
In  V.  3,  instead  of  "  we  liid  as  it  were  otir  faces 
from  ELim,"  there  is  the  exactor  rendering,  "  as  one 
from  whom  men  hide  their  face,  lie  was  despised," 
etc.  The  difficult  8th  verse,  "  lie  was  taken  from 
prison  and  from  judgment  ;  and  who  shall  declare 
His  generation"  is  made  plainer  by  rendering,  "  By 
oppression  and  judgment  He  w^as  taken  away  ;  and 
who  considereth  His  generation  ?"  Yet  it  is  the 
opinion  of  not  a  few  of  the  learned  that  it  would  be 
better  to  substitute  for  the  latter  clause  v/hat  is  given 
in  the  margin,  and  read  thus  :  "  As  for  His  genera- 
tion, who  among  them  considereth  that  He  was  cut 
off  from  the  land  of  the  living  for  the  transgression 
of  my  people  to  whom  the  stroke  was  due  T '  In 
liv.  8  '*  In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  my  face  from  thee" 
becomes  ''  In  overflowing  wrath  I  hid  my  face," 
etc.,  thus  making  a  stronger  contrast  with  the  kind- 
ness mentioned  in  the  next  clause.  In  v.  12  the 
promise  to  Zion  is  not  "  windows  of  agates,"  but 
''  j)innacles  of  rubies."  "^'^  In  Ivi.  10,  11  the  compari- 
son of  Israel's  rulers  to  diunb,  indolent,  greedy 
dogs,  and  to  faithless  shepherds,  is  brought  out  much 
more  clearly  than  in  the  Authorized  Version.  The 
indignant  question  of  Jehovah  at  offerings  made  to 

*  The  author,  when  he  was  in  the  East  some  ten  years  ago, 
learned  of  a  tradition  current  among  the  Mohammedan  popula- 
tions, that  one  of  the  pinnacles  of  Solomon's  temple  terminated 
in  a  jewel  of  such  transcendent  lustre  that  even  in  a  dark  night 
the  Bedawin  women,  thirty  miles  away  beyond  the  Jordan,  were 
able  to  thread  their  needles  by  its  light. 


146  OLD  testame:n^t  kevision". 

idols  (Ivii.  G),  '^  Should  1  receive  comfort  in  these  ?" 
is  much  better  expressed  by  '^  Shall  1  be  appeased 
for  these  things?"  In  v.  13  a  literal  rendering 
turns  'S^anitj  shall  take  them^''  into  ^' a  breath 
shall  carry  them  away."  In  lix.  19  the  oft-cpoted 
text,  *'  when  the  enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood, 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  lift  np  a  standard  against 
Ilim,"  becomes,  according  to  the  tenor  of  modern 
criticism,  ''  For  He  shall  come  as  a  rushing  stream 
which  the  breath  of  the  Lord  driveth."  So  ren- 
dered, the  words  are  a  glowing  description  of  the  im- 
petuous jDrogress  of  the  name  of  the  Lord.  In  Ixii. 
6  the  Authorized  Yersion  reads,  ''Ye  that  make 
mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence  and  give  Him 
no  rest  till  He  establish  Jerusalem."  But  the  bold- 
ness and  the  correspondences  of  the  original  are 
finely  set  forth  in  the  revision,  "  Ye  that  are  the 
Lord's  remembrancers,  take  ye  no  rest  and  give  Him 
no  rest  till  He  establish,"  etc.  Eest  not  yourselves, 
neither  let  him  rest. 

The  striking  passage  at  the  beginning  of  the  next 
chapter,  "  who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with 
dyed  garments  from  Bozrah, ' '  etc. ,  is  greatly  helped 
by  representing  the  conqueror  as  "marching"  rather 
than  "travelling"  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength, 
and  by  a  more  vigorous  rendering  of  the  last  clause 
of  V.  6,  but  especially  by  preserving  the  preterite 
tenses  of  the  original.  Thus,  the  version  adequately 
represents  the  whole  grand  dramatic  description  of 
Jehovah  as  a  warrior  on  his  triumj)hant  return  after 
having  achieved  a  triumphant   victory.     The  enig- 


CHANGES   IN"   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  147 

matical  close  of  the  clia])ter,  ''  We  are  tliine  ;  thou 
ncA^er  barest  rule  over  them  :  they  were  not  called 
by  the  name,"  is  made  coherent  by  the  change,  ''  We 
are  become  as  they  over  whom  thou  never  barest 
rule  ;  as  they  that  were  not  called  by  thy  name." 
The  similar  difficulty  in  Ixv.  5,  "  in  those  is  con- 
tinuance, and  we  shall  be  saved,"  which  is  unmean- 
ing, is  removed  by  rendering  "in  them  [i.e.,  m 
our  sins]  have  ive  been  of  a  long  time,  and  shall 
we  be  saved?"  In  Ixv,  11,  "ye  that  prepare  a 
table  for  that  troop,  and  that  furnish  the  drink  unto 
that  number,"  the  change  of  "that  troop"  into 
"Fortune,"  and  of  "that  number"  into  "Des- 
tiny," suggests  to  the  reader  what  otherwise  he 
would  hardly  conjecture,  that  these  are  names  of 
idol  deities.  In  Ixvi.  2  to  say,  after  Jehovah's  asser- 
tion that  He  made  heaven  and  earth,  "  and  all  those 
things  have  been,"  is  flat,  but  it  becomes  significant 
in  the  revision,  "  and  so  all  these  things  came  to  be," 
thus  emphasizing  the  contrast  between  a  manufact- 
ured universe  and  the  nobler  temple  of  a  spiritual 
nature. 

Jeremiah.  The  phrase  "  imagination  of  their 
heart,"  which  occurs  iii.  IT  and  several  times  else- 
where, is  changed  to  "  stubbornness  of  their  heart," 
which  is  what  the  word  means.  In  iv.  14,  "  How 
long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge  within  thee  ?"  the 
word  vai7i  (  =  empty)  does  not  express  the  force  of 
the  original,  and  is  therefore  changed  to  evil.  So  in 
V.  30,  "  thou  rentest  thy  face  with  paint"  becomes 
"  thou  enlargest  thine  eyes  with  paint,"  because  the 


148  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

Oriental  custom  was  in  this  way  to  produce  an  ap- 
parent enlargement  of  the  eye.  In  vi.  29  the  fine 
figure  of  the  prophet  is  obscure.  "  The  bellows 
are  burned,  the  lead  is  consumed  of  the  fire  ;  the 
founder  melteth  in  vain."  The  revision  is  more 
accurate.  ^'  The  bellows  blow  fiercely  ;  the  lead  is 
consumed  of  the  fire  ;  in  vain  do  they  go  on  refin- 
ing." That  is,  no  matter  how  severe  the  smelting 
process,  there  is  no  good  result.  The  wicked  re- 
main, and  Israel  becomes  '^  refuse  silver."  In  viii. 
8,  to  the  people's  claim,  ^^  We  are  wise,  and  the  law 
of  the  Lord  is  with  us,"  the  Authorized  Version 
says,  "  Lo,  certainly  in  vain  made  He  it  /  the  pen 
of  the  scribes  is  in  vain,"  but  the  revision  gives  the 
better  and  clearer  sense,  ^'  But,  behold,  the  false  pen 
of  the  scribes  hath  wrought  falsely. ' '  You  have  the 
law,  but  your  scribes  have  turned  it  into  a  lie.  In 
X.  21  and  elsewhere  "  pastors"  is  changed  into  ''  shep- 
herds" to  avoid  ambiguity.  In  xi.  19,  ^^  I  was  like  a 
lamb  or  an  ox  that  is  brought  to  the  slaughter,"  "  a 
lamb  or  an  ox"  is  changed  into  ^' a  gentle  lamb," 
w4iich  is  just  as  correct,  and  more  suitable.  The  second 
member  of  the  fine  antithesis  in  xii.  5  is  in  the  Au- 
thorized Yersion  ^Sy  in  the  land  of  peace  wherein 
thou  trustedst  thej/  wearied  thee,  then  how  wilt  thou 
do  in  the  swelling  of  Jordan  ?"  but  the  revision  ren- 
ders more  exactly,  ''  tliough  in  a  land  of  peace  thou 
art  secure,  yet  how  wilt  thou  do  in  the  pride  of 
Jordan  ?"  In  xiv.  2  the  Authorized  Yersion  says  of 
the  gates  of  Judah  that  ^'  they  are  black  unto  the 
ground, ' '  but  the  revision  resolves  the  pregnant  ex- 


CHANGES   m  THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  140 

pression  of  the  Hebrew  into  *'  tliey  sit  in  black  upon 
the  ground  ;"  and  in  v.  6,  instead  of  saying  that  the 
wild  asses  "  snuffed  up  the  wind  like  dragons,"  says 
they  "pant  for  air  like  jackals."  In  xvii.  11  the 
partridge  that  "  sitteth  o?i  eggs  and  hatcheth  them 
not"  becomes  "  the  partridge  that  gathereth  young 
which  she  hath  not  brought  forth  ;"  meaning  that  as 
these  young  when  aware  of  the  fraud  forsake  the 
false  mother,  so  riches  wrongly  gotten  forsake  the 
unlawful  owner.  In  xviii.  14:  the  enigmatical  ques- 
tion, "  Will  a  man  leave  the  snow  of  Lebanon  wliicli 
Cometh  .  .  .  field,  or  shall  the  cold  flowing  waters 
.  .  .  be  forsaken,"  is  changed  to  "  Shall  the  snow 
of  Lebanon  fail  from  the  rock  of  the  field,  or  shall 
the  cold  waters  that  flow  down  from  afar  be  dried 
up  ;"  the  prophet  using  the  perennial  snows  on  Leb- 
anon and  its  never-failing  streams  to  set  forth  the 
hereditary  attachment  of  a  nation  to  its  gods.  The 
striking  passage  xx.  7-12  is  made  clearer  and  more 
vivid  in  the  revision,  but  is  too  long  to  be  given 
here.  The  unmeaning  direction  in  xxii.  20,  "  Cry 
from  the  passages,"  is  changed  to  ''  Cry  from  Aba- 
rim,"  which  is  a  mountain  summit  like  Lebanon  and 
Bashan  mentioned  in  the  preceding  clauses.  In 
xxxi.  21,  "  Set  thee  up  waymarks,  make  thee  high 
heaps,"  the  revision  gives  light  by  substituting 
"  guide-posts  "for  '^  high  heaps."  In  the  account 
of  Jeremiah's  purchase  of  land  (xxxii.  10),  ''  I  sub- 
scribed the  evidence"  very  properly  becomes  "I 
Eubscribed  the  deed."  A  similar  change  in  vv.  11, 
12,  14  clarifies  the  narrative.     The  prophet  is  said  in 


150  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOJ^-. 

xxxvii.  12  to  have  gone  out  of  Jerusalem  '^  to  sepa- 
rate himself  thence,"  which  the  revision  rightly  turns 
into  *^  to  receive  a  portion  there,"  as  required  both 
by  the  Hebrew  and  the  connection,  for  tlie  Anthor- 
ized  Version's  phrase  would  seem  to  justify  the 
charge  of  attempted  desertion  which  his  foes  urged 
against  him.  In  xxxix.  2  the  awkward  and  dubious 
statement,  ''  the  city  was  broken  up,"  is  replaced  by 
*'a  breach  was  made  in  the  city."  In  xliv.  21 
^^  fatted  bullocks"  gives  way  to  ^^  calves  of  the 
stall,"  the  phrase  used  for  the  same  Hebrew  in  MaL 
iv.  2.  In  xlviii.  12  the  bold  figure  of  the  context 
is  preserved  by  changing  ''  I  will  send  wanderers 
that  cause  him  to  wander"  into  '^  I  will  send  them 
that  pour  off  and  they  shall  pour  him  off."  Jere- 
miah has  compared  Moab  to  wine  that  has  never 
been  drawn  off  into  another  cask,  and  therefore  re- 
tains its  taste  and  scent  unclianged.  Now,  howev^er, 
shall  come  those  who  will  tilt  u]^  the  old  casks  and 
empty  them  completely.  In  li.  12  the  direction  to 
the  besiegers  of  Babylon  is  to  set  up  the  standard, 
not  "  upon  the  wall,"  as  the  Authorized  Version  has 
it,  but  '^against  the  wall."  In  v.  17  the  strange 
utterance,  ''  Every  man  is  brutish  by  Ms  knowledge," 
is  changed  to  "is  become  brutish,  and  is  without 
knowledge,"  which  is  what  the  Hebrew  and  the 
connection  require.  In  vv.  31,  32  the  Authorized 
Version  says  that  at  the  capture  of  Babylon  messen- 
gers shewed  the  king  that  '^  his  city  is  taken  at  one 
end,  and  that  the  passages  are  stopped,"  whereas 
their  ]nessage  was  that  the  "  city  is  taken  on  ev^ery 


CHAK-QES   IJq"   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  151 

quarter  and  tlie  passages  are  surprised, "  \Ylncli  was 
the  fact.  So  in  v.  55,  instead  of  tlie  identical  prop- 
osition, ^'  when  her  waves  do  roar  like  great  waters, 
a  noise  of  their  voice  is  uttered,"  the  revision  gives 
both  sense  and  poetry,  reading,  ^'  and  their  billows 
roar  like  many  waters,  the  noise  of  their  voice  is 
uttered. ' ' 

The  Lamentations  of  Jeeemiah. — This  book, 
which  is  not  merely  poetry  but  poetry  of  a  very  com- 
plicated nature,  since  three  of  the  five  chapters  are 
alphabetical  and  all  of  very  elaborate  structure,  is 
printed  in  parallelisms.  The  sense  is  made  clear  by 
a  variety  of  minor  changes.  I  note  only  a  few.  In- 
stead of  saj^ing  (i.  8)  that  ''  Jerusalem  is  removed," 
the  revision  is  more  literal  and  clear  in  saying,  she  is 
''  become  as  an  unclean  thing."  (The  same  change 
is  made  in  Ezek.  vii.  19,  20.)  A  similar  phrase  is  em- 
ployed euphemistically  and  wisely  at  the  close  of  v. 
17  and  also  in  Ezek.  xviii.  6.  In  ii.  20  ^'  children 
of  a  span  long"  are  changed  into  "  children  dandled 
in  the  hands,"  as  modern  criticism  demands.  The 
triplet  in  iii.  28-30,  ^'  He  sitteth  alone  and  keepeth 
silence,  because  he  hath  borne  it  upon  him.  He 
putteth  his  mouth  in  the  dust ;  if  so  be  there  may 
be  hope.  He  giveth  his  cheek  to  him  that  smiteth 
him  :  he  is  filled  with  reproach,"  is  made  clearer 
by  turning  the  verbs  from  the  present  into  the 
cohortative,  according  to  the  Hebrew,  and  changing 
*'  borne  "  into  ''  laid."  The  passage  then  is  an  ad- 
dress concerning  the  sufferer. 


152  OLD   TESTAMEiq-T   KEYISIOiT. 

Let  him  sit  alone  and  keep  silence,  because  He  [i.6.  God]  hath 

laid  it  upon  him. 
Let  him  put  his  mouth  in  the  dust,  if  so  be  there  may  be  hope. 
Let  him  give  his  cheek  to  him  that  smiteth  him  ;  let  him  be 

filled  full  with  reproach. 

EzEKiEL. — In  i.  15  we  read,  "  behold,  one  wheel 
upon  tlie  earth  by  the  living  creatures,  with  his  four 
faces,"  as  if  there  was  only  a  single  wheel  for  the 
whole.  The  true  sense  is  given  in  the  revision, 
*^  behold  one  wheel  ujDon  the  earth  beside  the  living 
creatures,  for  each  of  the  four  faces  thereof,"  which 
is  what  the  Hebrew  means.  In  iii.  21  the  Author- 
ized Yersion  represents  the  j)enitent  man  as  delivered 
''because  he  is  warned."  But  the  impenitent  was 
likewise  warned,  and  the  revision  therefore  shows 
the  difference  by  rendering,  as  the  original  admits, 
"  because  he  took  warning."  The  curious  utterance 
respecting  the  wheels  of  the  cherubic  vision,  x.  13,  "  it 
was  cried  unto  them  in  my  hearing,  O  wheel  !"  is 
supplanted  by  the  simpler  and  more  accurate  state- 
ment, "  they  were  called  in  my  hearing,  the  whirl- 
ing wheels^  In  xi.  16  the  familiar  phrase  "  a  little 
sanctuary  "  disappears  in  the  revision,  because  the 
promise  really  is  that  God  will  become  a  sanctuary 
"for  a  little  while"— i.^.,  during  the  provisional 
period  of  exile.  Hence  the  loss  is  only  in  expres- 
sion. The  substance  of  the  promise  in  the  Author- 
ized Yersion  remains.  In  xvi.  4,  "to  supple  thee" 
is  made  "  to  cleanse  thee  ;"  v.  13,  "a  jewel  on  thy 
forehead"  becomes  "  a  ring  upon  thy  nose  ;"  v.  14, 
"comeliness"    is   turned   into    "majesty;"  v.    24, 


CHANGES   IN"   THE    PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  153 

'^  high  phice  "  becomes  "  lofty  place,"  to  distinguish 
this  term  from  another  "usuallj  so  rendered  ;  v.  49, 
*' abundance  of  idleness"  is  made  "prosperous 
ease' ' — all  of  which  are  changes  required  by  modern 
lexicography.  In  xviii.  24  the  Authorized  Version 
preserves  a  Hebraism,  ""  all  his  righteousness  that 
he  hath  done  shall  not  be  mentioned,"  which  in 
English  implies  that  some  of  it  might  be,  whereas 
the  sense  is  just  the  reverse,  as  given  in  the  revision, 
'']^ one  of  his  righteous  deeds  .  .  .  shall  be  remem- 
bered."* In  the  20th  chapter  the  word  "pol- 
luted" is  in  seven  cases  changed  to  "profaned," 
which  is  the  exact  meaning  of  the  original ;  but  in  vv. 
26,  31,  43  it  is  retained  because  it  translates  another 
Hebrew  verb.  The  printing  of  "  South"  with  a 
capital  initial  letter  indicates  that  the  reference  is 
not  to  a  point  of  the  compass,  but  to  a  specific 
region  kno\rn  as  the  ^N'egeb  or  South.  In  ch.  xxi. 
8-17  the  vivid  description  of  the  sword  which  is  to 
overthrow  Babylon  is  freed  from  obscurities  in  the 
revision — e.g.,  the  statement,  v.  15,  "it  is  made 
bright,  it  is  wrapped  up  for  the  slaughter,"  is  thus 
illumined,  "it  is  made  as  lightning,  it  is  pointed  for 
slaughter."  So  in  v.  21,  instead  of  "  he  made  his 
arrows  bright,  he  consulted  with  images,"  we  read, 
"he  shook  the  arrows  to  and  fro,  he  consulted  the 
teraphim"  (household  gods),  both  of  these  being  cus- 
tomary forms  of  divination.     The  well-known  pas- 

*  A  similar  retention  of  a  misleading  Hebrew  idiom  is  found 
in  Ps.  eiii.  2,  ''And  forget  not  all  His  benefits,"  where  the 
meaning  is,  "  Forget  none  of  His  benefits." 


154  OLD   TESTAMENT   EEVISIOX. 

sage,  vv.  25-27,  ''  And  tlion,  profane  wicked  prince 
of  Israel,  wliose  day  is  come  when  iniquity  shcdl  have 
an  end.  Tims  saitli  the  Lord  God,  Eemove  the  dia- 
dem, and  take  off  the  crown  :  this  shall  not  he  the 
same  :  exalt  him  that  is  low  and  abase  him  that  is 
high.  1  will  overturn,  overturn,  overtm-n,"  etc., 
retains  its  general  character  as  an  address  to  Zedekiah, 
but  the  change  of  "diadem"  to  ''mitre"  indicates 
that  the  revolution  predicted  was  to  include  the 
priesthood  as  well  as  the  royalty.  "  And  thou,  O 
deadly  wounded  wicked  one,  the  prince  of  Israel, 
whose  day  is  come,  in  the  time  of  the  iniquity  of  the 
end,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  :  Kemove  the  mitre 
and  take  off  the  crown  :  this  shall  be  no  more  the 
same  :  exalt  that  which  is  low,  and  abase  that  w^hich 
is  high.  I  will  overturn,  overturn,  overturn  it  : 
this  also  shall  be  no  more  until  he  come  whose  right 
it  is  ;  and  I  will  give  it  him."  No  overturning,  how- 
ever, would  be  final  until  He  came  whose  is  the  right. 
In  V.  30  the  question,  ''  Shall  I  cause  it  to  return  into 
his  sheath  ?"  is  properly  transformed  into  a  command, 
"  Cause  it  to  return  into  its  sheath,"  etc.,  an  impres- 
sive statement  of  the  fact  that  the  sword's  work  is 
over.  In  xxiv.  3,  ''Set  on  a  pot  "  becomes  "  Set 
on  the  caldron,' '  the  one  mentioned  in  xi.  3  ;  and  in 
V.  12  the  revision  shows  how  ineffectual  was  the 
effort  to  burn  away  the  filth — "  She  hath  wearied 
herself  with  toil  ;  yet  her  great  rust  goeth  not  out 
of  her;  her  rust  goeth  not  forth  by  fire,"  a  view 
wholly  misconceived  in  the  Authorized  Version. 
The   description   of   Tyre's   wealth    and   commerce 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  155 

(eh.  xxviii.)  is  rendered  more  intelligible.  Instead 
of  '^the  company  of  Aslmrites  liave  made  thy 
benches  of  ivorj-,"  we  read,  '' they  have  made  thy 
benches  of  ivory  inlaid  with  boxwood  ;"  and  in- 
stead of  "  The  ships  of  Tarshish  did  sing  of  thee  in 
thy  market"  (v.  25),  there  is  the  fine  figure  that 
these  ships  ''  were  thy  caravans  for  thy  merchandise. " 
In  the  last  four  verses  the  change  of  the  futures  into 
preterites  is  more  literal,  and  adds  greatly  to  the 
effectiveness  of  the  wail.  In  the  reproof  of  Tyre's 
claim  of  divinity,  xxviii.  6,  the  weak  dilution  of  the 
Authorized  Yersion,  "  but  thou  s/iali  he  a  man" 
gives  way  to  the  vigorous,  ''  but  thou  art  man."  In 
vv.  16-19  the  change  of  the  futures  of  the  Author- 
ized Yersion  into  preterites  is  a  gain  in  accuracy 
and  vividness.  In  xxxii.  2  '' whale"  is  changed  to 
''  dragon,"  which  better  represents  the  crocodile  of 
Egypt  than  an  animal  whose  habitat  is  the  ocean. 
In  V.  6  ^'  water-courses  "  is  substituted  for  '^  rivers," 
because  in  the  land  referred  to,  Egypt,  there  is  but 
one  river,  which,  however,  has  many  artificial  chan- 
nels. In  the  description  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones 
(xxxvii.),  the  change  of  '^  shaking "  (v.  7)  into 
'^  earthquake"  gives  the  striking  sense  of  the  orig- 
inal, and  that  of  the  statement  ''  we  are  cut  oil  for 
our  parts"  into  ''we  are  clean  cut  off,"  converts 
obscurity  into  lucidness.  In  xxxviii.  2,  3,  "  the  chief 
prince"  is  made  "  prince  of  Rosh,"  according  to 
the  general  consent  of  modern  critics.  In  xliv.  23 
is  a  change  which  occurs  also  elsewhere — viz.,  that 
of  "  the  holy  and  profane  "  into  "  the  holy  and  the 


156  OLD   TESTAMEis'T   REYISION". 

common,"  the  last  term  implying  only  what  is  not 
consecrated. 

Daniel. — In  ii.  30  the  Anthorized  Yersion  makes 
Daniel  say  that  the  secret  was  revealed  to  him  "  for 
their  sakes  that  shall  make  known  the  interpreta- 
tion," but  the  revision  gives  it  more  accurately  "  to 
the  intent  that  the  interpretation  may  be  made 
known."  The  difference  is  considerable.  In  iii. 
25  the  king  says,  in  the  Authorized  Yersion,  that 
the  form  of  the  fourth  person  seen  in  the  furnace 
*^is  like  the  Son  of  God,"  which  the  revision 
changes  properly  to  "  a  son  of  the  gods,"  which  is 
all  that  the  original  means  or  can  mean.  In  vi.  7, 
8,  etc.,  "  decree"  becomes  "interdict,"  because  the 
original  word  means  a  prohibitory  decree.  In  vii. 
9  "  the  thrones  were  cast  down"  is  changed  to 
"  thrones  were  placed,"  in  accordance  with  the  older 
versions  and  most  moderns,  and  with  the  connection. 
In  viii.  9  '  ^  the  pleasant  land  ' '  becomes  ' '  the  glori- 
ous land,"  in  accordance  with  the  rendering  of  the 
same  word  in  Ezek.  xx.  6,  15,  and  also  with  the 
Authorized  Yersion's  usage  in  Dan.  xi.  16,  -11.  In 
V.  13  "  saint"  becomes  "  a  holy  one,"  for  the  same 
reason  that  a  like  change  was  made  in  Job  v.  1  and 
XV.  15 — viz.,  that  '^  saint"  is  usually  understood  to 
mean  a  human  being,  whereas  "  a  holy  one"  may 
be  either  angelic  or  human.  In  v.  17  the  obscure 
utterance,  "at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  he  the 
vision,"  gives  place  to  the  more  literal,  "  the  vision 
belongeth  to  the  time, of  the  end."  A  similar 
emendation  is  found  in  vv.  19,  26.     In  the  famous 


CHANGE3   IN   THE    PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  157 

passage  at  tlie  close  of  cli.  ix.  many  will  be  disap- 
pointed to  find  that  "  Messiah,"  which  is  simply  the 
Hebrew  word  in  English  letters,  has  disappeared, 
while  instead  of  it  appears  the  translation  of  its  mean- 
ing— viz.,  ^' the  anointed  one."  This  is  the  only 
case  in  Scripture  where  the  word  is  given  in  the 
Authorized  Version  as  a  proper  name,  and  the  re- 
visers thought  proper  to  assimilate  it  to  the  numerous 
other  passages  {e.g.^  Lev.  iv.  3;  I.  Chron.  xvi.  22; 
Ps.  ii.  2),  where  it  is  uniformly  rendered  '^anoint- 
ed." But  whether  so  late  as  the  time  of  Daniel, 
the  word  had  not  come  to  have  a  specific  reference 
to  the  future  deliverer  who  was  to  exhaust  the  mean- 
ing of  anointing  in  all  its  applications,  may  be  a 
question.  In  favor  of  the  revisers'  rendering  is  the 
fact  that  in  the  Hebrew  neither  this  word  nor  the 
next  one  has  the  article,  so  that  a  literal  rendering 
would  be  "an  anointed  one,  a  prince."  But  quite 
apart  from  the  matter  of  translation  is  the  question 
whether  the  reference  is  to  an  earthly  deliverer,  like 
Cyrus,  or  to  Him  of  whom  Andrew  said  to  his 
brother  Peter  (John  i.  41),  "  We  have  found  the 
Messiah  (which  is,  being  interpreted,  Christ)." 

The  latter  half  of  the  25th  verse  conforms  as 
closely  as  possible  to  the  original.  In  the  next  verse 
many  will  be  surprised  to  miss  the  phrase  about 
Messiah's  being  cut  off  "  but  not  for  himself,"  but 
it  is  the  general  opinion  of  scholars  that  this  is  an 
impossible  translation.  The  words  are  ''  there  shall 
not  be  to  him,"  and  we  may  supply,  to  complete  the 
sense,  "  a  successor,"  or  "  a  people,"  or,  as  the  re- 


158  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

vision,  ''  anything."  The  latter  part  of  the  verse 
follows  the  Hebrew  closely  ;  instead  of  ''  and  unto 
the  end  of  the  war  desolations  are  determined,"  the 
revision  reads  '^  and  even  unto  the  end  shall  be  war  ; 
desolations  are  decreed."  In  the  last  verse,  *^  con- 
firm the  covenant,"  which  is  hardly  a  rendering,  is 
changed  to  ''make  a  firm  covenant."  The  latter 
half  of  the  verse,  shunning  the  obscurity  of  the 
Authorized  Version,  takes  the  form  most  agreeable 
to  current  critical  opinion  :  "  upon  the  wing  (or  pin- 
nacle) of  abominations  shall  come  one  that  maketh 
desolate  ;  and  even  unto  the  consummation,  and  that 
decreed,  shall  wrath  be  poured  out  upon  the  desola- 
tor."  Of  course,  in  a  passage  which  has  been  fought 
over  for  ages  by  all  classes  of  critics,  no  one  can 
furnish  a  version  which  will  be  universally  accepted. 
But  any  candid  judge  must  admit  that  the  revision 
excels  the  common  version  in  strictness  and  clearness 
of  rendering,  as  well  as  in  freedom  from  dogmatic 
bias. 

The  twelve  Minor  Prophets  constitute  the  most 
generally  neglected  j)ortion  of  the  Old  Testament, 
partly  because  they  abound  in  obscure  and  difficult 
passages,  partly  because  the  historic  period  and  rela- 
tions of  these  writers  are  not  understood,  and  also 
because  they  are  less  frequently  made  the  subject  of 
popular  comment  in  the  pulpit  or  the  press.  Many 
otherwise  intelligent  believers  would  be  puzzled  to 
recite  their  names  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence  or 
otherwise,  and  much  more  to  indicate  their  differ- 


CHANGES   IJT   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  150 

ences  as  to  subject,  style,  purpose,  ability  or  literary 
merit.  The  evil  has  been  increased  by  the  fact  that 
here  the  authors  of  the  common  version  were  less 
successful  than  elsewhere,  and  sometimes  by  infelici- 
tous renderings  made  the  sacred  writers  more  obscure 
than  they  naturally  are.  The  revision  of  course 
does  not  solve  all  difficulties  and  make  all  rough 
places  plain,  but  if  it  smooths  the  path  for  the  Eng- 
lish reader  and  perceptibly  aids  him  in  reaching  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit,  the  benefit  will  not  be  small  to 
the  church  of  God. 

HosEA. — In  ii.  21,  22  the  verb  '^  hear"  is  changed 
to  ^^  answer,"  which  is  the  j)roper  sense  of  the 
Hebrew.  When  the  heavens  ask  to  send  their  rain 
upon  the  earth,  God  will  answer  them,  and  when 
the  earth  asks  rain  the  heavens  will  answer,  and  so 
throughout  the  series  of  bold  personifications.  In 
iv.  16,  ''  For  Israel  slideth  back  like  a  blacksliding 
heifer,"  the  revision  reverts  to  the  true  meaning 
of  the  original,  which  is  that  Israel  hath  behaved 
himself  stubbornly  like  a  stubborn  [or  refractory] 
heifer.  In  v.  18,  ''her  rulers  with  shsime  do  love, 
Give  ye,"  which  is  almost  unintelligible,  is  re- 
placed by  ''her  rulers  dearly  love  shame" — i.e., 
what  is  shameful.  In  v.  10  "  the  princes  of  Judah 
are  like  them  that  remove  the  bound,"  the  change 
of  "bound"  into  "landmark"  makes  the  sense 
more  obvious.  In  vi.  3  the  fine  passage,  "  Then 
shall  W3  know  if  we  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord  ;  His 
going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morning  ;  and  He 
shall  come  unto  us  as  the  rain,  as  the  latter  and 


160  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION". 

former  rain  imto  the  eartli,"  lias  its  full  beauty 
brought  out  by  a  stricter  rendering — "  Let  us  know, 
let  us  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord  ;  His  going  forth 
is  sure  as  the  morning  ;  and  He  shall  come  unto  us 
as  the  rain,  as  the  latter  rain  that  watereth  the 
earth."  The  sense  is  both  clearer  and  richer.  We 
read  in  v.  4  concerning  Judah's  goodness  that  '^  as 
the  early  dew  it  goeth  away  ;"  but  all  dew  is  early, 
and  the  revision  amends  in  accordance  with  the  He- 
brew, and  reads,  ^'  the  dew  that  goeth  early  away," 
which  well  represents  the  evanescent  piety  of  the 
people.  The  same  phrase  occurs  in  xiii.  3,  where 
the  same  emendation  is  made.  The  use  of  ''goeth" 
in  one  passage  and  ''  passeth"  in  the  other  to  render 
the  same  Hebrew  verb,  is  a  variation  retained  from 
the  Authorized  Version. 

A  striking  alteration  is  found  in  v.  7,  where  in- 
stead of  saying  that  "  they  like  men  have  trans- 
gressed the  covenant,"  the  revision  reads,  "  they  like 
Adam  have  transgressed,"  etc.,  which  is  certainly  a 
possible  translation,  and  to  many  far  more  ex- 
pressive than  the  common  version.  In  ch.  vii.  are 
many  obscurities  inherent  in  the  brief  elliptical  style 
of  the  prophet.  Yerse  4  shows  one  that  belongs  to 
the  translators.  It  is  hard  to  see  any  meaning  in  the 
words  ''  who  ceaseth  from  raising  after  he  hath 
kneaded  the  dough  until  it  be  leavened,"  but  the 
revision  reads,  "  he  ceaseth  to  stir  the  fire  from  the 
kneading  of  the  dough,"  etc. — i.e.^  the  oven  of  the 
baker,  to  which  the  people  burning  with  lust  are 
compared,  is  so  hot  that  he  needs  no  more  to  add 


CHANGES   IN   THE    PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  161 

fuel.  In  viii.  12  the  Authorized  Version  reads,  *^  I 
have  written  to  him  the  great  things  of  m^^  law," 
but  the  revision  (following  the  Kethih)  renders, 
''  Though  I  write  for  him  my  law  in  ten  thousand 
precepts^'*''  etc.,  referring  to  the  myriads  of  instruc- 
tions the  people  had  enjoyed.  In  x.  1  it  is  said, 
^'  Epliraim  is  an  empty  vine,  he  bringeth  forth  fruit 
unto  himself,"  certainly  a  very  suggestive  sentiment ; 
but  modern  critics  agree  to  the  rendering  of  the  re- 
vision, which  manifestly  suits  the  connection  better, 
"  Israel  is  a  luxuriant  vine  which  putteth  forth  his 
fruit."  But  his  prosperity  only  made  him  more 
devoted  to  idols.  In  xii.  3  an  obvious  contrast  is 
obscured  in  the  version,  ^^  He  took  his  brother  by 
the  heel  in  the  womb,  and  by  his  strength  he  had 
power  with  God."  The  revision  reads,  ''In  the 
womb  he  took  his  brother  by  the  heel,  and  in  his 
manhood  he  had  power  with  God,"  thus  comparing 
together  Jacob's  earliest  years  and  his  adult  vigor. 
In  xiii.  9  the  Authorized  Yersion,  ''  O  Israel,  thou 
hast  destroyed  thyself,  but  in  me  is  thine  help," 
just  and  weighty  as  it  is  in  itself,  is  not  a  fair  ren- 
dering. The  revision  gives  the  true  sense  :  ''  It  is 
thy  destruction,  O  Israel,  that  thou  art  against  me, 
against  thy  help."  In  xiv.  2,  ''So  will  we  render 
the  calves  of  our  lips' '  is  against  Hebrew  grammar, 
as  -well  as  obscure.  The  revision  reads,  "  so  will  we 
render  as  bullocks  the  offering  of  our  lips  " — i.e.^ 
thankful  praise  will  take  the  place  of  sacrificial  offer- 
ings, which  is  doubtless  the  meaning  hinted  at  in 
the  Authorized  Yersion. 


162  OLD   TESTAMENT   BEVISION. 

Joel. — The  chief  changes  here  are  in  the  tense 
forms.  The  vividness  of  the  description  of  the 
locusts'  invasion  in  the  second  chapter  is  greatly  in- 
creased by  putting  the  verbs  in  vv.  3-11  in  the  pres- 
ent. The  prophet  speaks  as  if  the  whole  scene  were 
passing  before  his  eyes.  In  v.  8  the  mysterious  ut- 
terance ''  when  they  fall  upon  the  sword,  they  shall 
not  be  wounded  "  is  greatly  relieved  by  the  ren- 
dering, ''  they  burst  through  the  weapons,  they  break 
not  off  their  course,''^  There  is  a  gain  also  in  chang- 
ing the  tenses  in  vv.  18,  19,  for,  according  to  the 
Hebrew,  the  prophet  tells,  not  what  the  Lord  will  do, 
but  what  He  has  done. 

Amos. — In  this  prophet  all  obscurity  is  not  re- 
moved, but  light  is  given  to  many  passages  that  per- 
plex the  ordinary  reader.  In  ii.  13  the  Authorized 
Yersion,  "  1  am  pressed  under  you  as  a  cart,"  etc.,  is 
exactly  reversed,  according  to  the  original,  "  Behold, 
I  will  press  yoio  in  your  place  as  a  cart  presseth  that  is 
full  of  sheaves.''  And  this  better  suits  the  connec- 
tion. In  iii.  12  the  incongruity  of  describing  the 
rescue  of  Israel  from  Samaria  and  at  the  same  time 
from  Damascus,  is  remedied  by  changing  "  in  Da- 
mascus m  a  couch"  into  "  on  the  silken  cushions  of  a 
bed."  In  v.  9  the  description  of  Jehovah  as  one 
''  that  strength enetli  the  spoiled  against  the  strong" 
is  turned  so  as  to  show  his  punitive  majesty,  '^  that 
bringeth  sudden  desti-uction  upon  the  strong  so  that 
destruction  cometh  upon  the  fortress."  And  this 
better  suits  the  connection.  In  the  symbolic  vision, 
vii.  4,  the  fire  is  said  in  the  Authorized  Yersion  to 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  163 

"  have  devoured  the  great  deep  and  did  eat  np  a 
part."  A  part  of  what,  the  reader  asks,  but  asks  in 
vain.  The  revision  solves  the  riddle  by  rendering 
the  last  clause,  '^  and  would  have  eaten  up  the  land," 
which  makes  sense,  and  probably  conveys  the  true 
meaning.  In  viii.  8  and  ix.  5  the  change  of  "  flood  " 
into  '^  River"  brings  out  the  meaning  of  the  figure 
employed — viz. ,  the  land  shall  rise  and  fall  just  as  the 
Nile  rises,  overflows  and  then  subsides.  So  in  ix.  6 
the  description  of  the  Lord's  work  becomes  clearer. 
It  is  His  '^  chambers"  not  "  stories"  that  He  builds 
in  heaven,  and  it  is  not  ^^  a  troop"  but  "a  vault" 
or  arch  that  He  founds  upon  the  earth. 

Obadiaii. — In  vv.  11-14  the  Authorized  Version 
resolves  the  imperatives  of  the  Hebrew  into  subjunc- 
tives— "  Thou  shouldst  not  have  looked,"  etc., 
"  shouldst  not  have  entered,"  etc.  But  the  revision 
with  most  critics  keeps  the  form  of  the  Hebrew, 
*'  Look  not  thou  on  the  day  of  thy  brother  in  the  day 
of  his  disaster,  and  rejoice  not,"  etc.  The  words  of 
the  prophet  are  addressed  to  the  Edoniitesby  way  of 
apostrophe,  just  as  if  he  saw  them  actually  pursuing 
the  unbrotherly  conduct  which  he  denounces. 

Jonah. — A  single  change  of  minor  importance  is 
noted  in  this  prophet.  In  i.  11  "  the  sea  wrought 
and  was  tempestuous  "  is  put  into  English  idiom  by 
the  phrase  '^  became  more  and  more  tempestuous," 
which  is  precisely  what  the  original  means. 

MiCAH. — Ini.  15  "  I  will  bring  an  heir  unto  thee  " 
sounds  like  a  promise  in  the  midst  of  denunciations, 
but  the  word  for  '^heir"   is  justly  in  the  revision 


164  OLD   TESTAMENT   EEVISION". 

rendered  ^'  liim  that  shall  possess  thee,"  which  is  a 
menace,  and  suits  the  context.  And  the  next  clause 
carries  out  the  sentiment  by  saying,  not  as  the 
Authorized  Version,  that  this  new  possessor  "will 
come  unto  Adullam,"  but  that  the  glory  of  Israel 
shall  come  even  to  that  cave  for  refuge.  In  vi.  11, 
instead  of  the  Authorized  Yersion,  *'  Shall  1  count 
them  pure  with  the  wicked  balances  V '  which  does 
violence  to  the  verb,  the  revision  reads,  '^  Shall  I  be 
pure  with  wicked  balances,"  meaning  that  the 
offender  thus  asks  his  conscience. 

Nahum. — In  the  vigorous  description  of  the  assault 
on  Nineveh,  the  Authorized  Version  reads  (ii.  3), 
*niie  chariots  shall  be  with  flaming  torches,"  but 
the  revision,  "  the  chariots  flash  with  steel."  In  iii. 
2,  3  the  revision  does  justice  to  tlie  original  by  repre- 
senting the  rapid  movement  of  the  assailants  and  the 
pomp  and  glow  of  their  onward  rush.  ""  The  noise 
of  the  whip,  and  the  noise  of  the  rattling  of  wheels  ; 
and  prancing  horses  and  jumping  chariots  ;  the  horse- 
men mounting,  and  the  flashing  sword  and  the  glit- 
tering spear  ;  and  a  multitude  of  slain,  and  a  great 
heap  of  carcases." 

Habakkuk. — The  Authorized  Yersion  renders  i. 
11,  "  Then  shall  his  mind  change,  and  he  shall  pass 
over  and  offend,  imputing  this  his  jjower  unto  his 
god,"  but  most  critics  understand  the  verse  as  stating 
the  resistless  march  of  the  invader  and  his  self-confi- 
dence. ''  Then  shall  he  sweep  by,  as  a  wind,  and 
shall  pass  over  and  be  guilty,  even  he  whose  might 
is  his  god."     In  ii.  3  is  the  familiar  utterance  about 


CHAKQES   IJf   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  1G5 

tlie  vision  :  ''  tliougli  it  tarry,  wait  for  it  ;  because 
it  will  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry."  The  revision 
changes  the  last  word  to  ''  delay,"  because  the  He- 
brew has  two  different  words  for  tarry,  one  that 
means  merely  to  linger,  the  other  meaning  a  delay 
that  is  final  or  too  late  to  be  rectified.  The  apparent 
contradiction  of  the  Authorized  Yersion  is  thus  shown 
not  to  exist.  In  ii.  15  the  Authorized  Yersion  says, 
*'  Woe  unto  him  that  givetli  his  neighbor  drink,  that 
puttest  thy  bottle  to  him,"  which  the  ignorant  quote 
as  if  it  were  applicable  to  our  own  day.  But  the 
second  clause  is  incorrectly  translated,  and  the  true 
rendering  is,  "that  addest  thy  venom  iliereto.'''* 
Thus  the  revision  shows  that  there  is  no  reference  to 
friendly  social  drinking  usages,  but  rather  to  a  man 
who  thrusts  an  unwelcome  drink  upon  another  on  pur- 
pose to  bring  him  to  shame.  In  ii.  19  the  Authorized 
Yersion  has  the  idol-maker  saying  "  to  the  dumb 
stone,  Arise,  it  shall  teach,"  but  it  is  far  more  spir- 
ited to  make  the  last  words  an  indignant  question  of 
the  prophet—''  Shall  this  teach  ?"  The  brilhant  ode 
which  occupies  the  third  chapter  is  made  more  clear 
in  several  places.  Instead  of  the  senseless  ''  horns" 
(v.  4),  we  read,  "  He  had  rays  coming  forth  from  His 
hand."  So  in  v.  14,  instead  of  '' striking  through 
with  his  staves  the  head  of  villages,"  we  read,  "  Thou 
didst  pierce  with  His  own  staves  the  head  of  His 
warriors."  The  prosaic  version  of  v.  15,  "  Thou  didst 
walk  through  the  sea  with  thy  horses,  through  the  heap 
of  great  waters,"  is  exchanged  for  "  Thou  didst  tread 
the  sea  with  thine  horses,  the  heap  of  mighty  waters. ' ' 


166  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

Zephaniah. — In  i.  11  ''merchant  people"  is  re- 
placed by  ''  people  of  Canaan,"  whose  overthrow  is 
mentioned  in  the  next  chapter. 

Haggai. — In  ii.  7  the  well-known  promise  in  ref- 
erence to  the  second  temple,  ''  the  desire  of  all  nations 
shall  come,"  is  usually  interpreted  to  mean  Messiah 
as  the  unconscious  hope  of  the  Gentiles  ;  but  the  true 
rendering  makes  it  refer  to  things,  not  persons — 
"  The  desirable  things  of  all  nations  shall  come,  and 
I  will  fill  this  house  with  glory."  Of  course  this  is 
a  consequence  of  Messiah' s  appearance. 

Zechariah. — In  iii.  8  Joshua  and  his  fellows  are 
called  in  the  Authorized  Yersion  ''  men  wondered 
at."  The  revision  gives  the  true  and  comforting 
meaning — ''men  that  are  a  sign"  — i.e.,  typical 
men,  they  who  foreshadow  the  great  future  priest 
upon  his  throne.  In  xii.  2  the  unintelligible  phrase 
*'  the  forest  of  the  vintage  "  is  exchanged  for  "  the 
strong  forest."  In  xii.  2  Jerusalem  is  to  be  a  cup  of 
reeling  to  all  the  people  "  when  they  shaU  be  in  the 
siege  both  against  Judah  and  Jerusalem,"  but  coun- 
tries are  not  besieged,  and  the  literal  rendering  is, 
-'  and  upon  Judah  also  shall  it  be  in  the  siege  against 
Jerusalem." 

Malachi  i.  10. — Instead  of  the  irrelevant  question 
of  the  Authorized  Yersion,  "  Who  among  you  would 
shut  the  doors /b;'  naiiglit  V  modern  critics  render, 
as  the  revision,  ' '  Oh  that  there  were  one  among  you 
that  would  shut  the  doors,  that  ye  might  not  kindle 
fire  on  my  altar  in  vain."  Better  no  sacrifice  than 
one  improperly  offered.     The  well-known  passage, 


CHANGES   IN   THE   PROPHETICAL   BOOKS.  167 

iii.  17,  ^'tliey  shall  be  mine  .  .  .  when  I  make  up 
my  jewels,"  is  rendered  according  to  the  original 
thus, '^  And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  in  the  day  that  I  do  make,  even  a  peculiar  treas- 
ure." The  Hebrew  offers  no  suggestion  that  God 
makes  up  a  casket  of  jewels,  but  it  does  teach  how 
dear  God's  people  are  to  Him,  and  how  carefully 
they  are  preserved. 


CHAPTER  YIIL 


THE   AMERICAN    APPENDIX. 


When  the  co-operation  of  American  scholars  in 
the  work  of  revision  was  invited,  nothing  was  said, 
perhaps  nothing  was  even  thought  of,  in  respect  to 
the  course  to  be  pursued  in  case  of  a  difference  of 
opinion  between  the  two  committees  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  any  proposed  changes.  As  the  work  went 
on  it  became  apparent  that  such  a  difference  existed. 
Various  methods  of  composing  it  were  suggested,  and 
there  was  considerable  correspondence  on  the  subject. 
Finally  it  was  agreed  with  great,  if  not  entire,  una- 
nimity, that  on  the  one  hand  the  American  Commit- 
tee should  recognize  the  moral  claim  of  copyright  on 
the  part  of  the  English  publishers,  the  Syndics  of  the 
University  presses,  and  for  fourteen  years  from  the 
date  of  publication  should  abstain  from  issuing  any 
edition  of  their  own,  meanwhile  giving  the  whole 
weight  of  their  influence  in  favor  of  the  English 
issues  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  differences  of 
reading  or  of  rendering  which  in  the  view  of  the 
American  Committee  were  of  special  importance 
should  be  inserted  in  an  appendix  to  be  attached  to 
all  the  English  editions.  There  were  some  at  least 
of  the  American  Committee  to  whom  the  plan  of  an 


THE   AMERICAN"   APPENDIX.  169 

appendix  was  very  distasteful,  and  wlio  would  gladly 
have  welcomed  some  other  solution  of  the  difficulty  ; 
but  none  such  could  be  found,  and  accordingly  all 
acquiesced  in  the  conclusion  just  stated.  The  effort 
of  the  American  Committee,  then,  was  to  reduce  the 
appendix  to  the  smallest  jDossible  dimensions  ;  and 
after  receiving  the  final  action  of  their  British 
brethren,  they  revised  and  re-revised  the  exceptions 
they  took  to  their  results,  often  surrendering  what 
they  deliberately  judged  to  be  best  because  it  did  not 
seem  to  be  of  such  importance  as  to  demand  distinct 
mention.  With  these  explanations  the  reader  will 
easily  understand  the  precise  force  of  the  heading  of 
the  appendix  as  given  in  the  authorized  editions. 

*'  The  American  Old  Testament  Company,  while 
recognizing  the  cordial  acceptance  given  to  many  of 
their  suggestions,  present  the  following  instances  in 
which  they  differ  from  the  English  Company  as  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  appended  to  the  revision 
in  accordance  with  the  original  agreement." 

These  suggestions  are  divided  into  two  portions, 
one  consisting  of  emendations  to  be  applied  to  words 
or  phrases  of  frequent  occurrence,  or  at  least  occur- 
ring of  tener  than  once,  and  hence  bearing  the  general 
title  of  '^  classes  of  passages,"  the  other  of  particular 
instances  in  which  a  different  rendering  is  preferred. 

I.    CLASSES    OF    PASSAGES. 

I.  Of  these  the  first  and  most  important  is  that 
which  refers  to  the  characteristic  divine  name,  Jehovah. 
This  name  occurs  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the 


170  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

Old  Testament  in  seven  places,  in  three  of  which  it 
is  in  composition,  as  Jehovah-Shalom  (Judges  vi.  24). 
This  number  has  been  considerably  increased  in  the 
revision,  but  the  American  Committee  think  that  the 
chano^e  should  be  universal.  It  is  well  known  that 
the  Jews  cherished  a  superstitious  dread  of  this  name, 
and  while  preserving  its  radical  letters  altered  the 
vowels,  so  that  it  is  not  altogether  a  settled  question 
what  those  vowels  were,  though  1  believe  all  admit 
that  they  were  not  those  represented  by  our  Engh'sh 
word  Jehovah.  Most  modern  scholars  propose  to 
express  them  by  the  form  Jahveh,  which  is  some- 
times by  pedants  introduced  into  popular  works. 
Tlie  Greek  translators  did  not  transfer  the  word, 
but  rendered  it  uniformly  by  uvpio^,  and  tlie  English 
translators  copied  their  example  by  rendering  with 
the  exceptions  noted,  Lord  ;  and  where  this  occurred 
in  connection  with  another  Hebrew  word  signifying 
Lord,  they  rendered  the  compound  phrase  '^Lord 
God,"  thus  completely  hiding  from  the  ordinary 
reader  the  full  force  of  the  term.  For  ''Lord" 
simply  conveys  the  ideas  of  authority,  power  and 
majesty,  which  are  abundantly  conveyed  by  other 
terms,  such  as  El  Shaddai.  As  is  well  known,  God 
is  tlie  ordinary  titje  given  to  the  Creator  as  supreme 
and  the  object  of  worship,  in  which  sense  it  is  applied 
to  the  gods  of  the  heathen  ;  but  Jehovah  belongs 
alone  to  the  God  of  Israel  who  revealed  Himself  to 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  it  is  never  applied 
to  any  other  deity.  There  are  Gods  many,  or  many 
that  are  so  called,  but  there  is  only  one  Jehovah. 


THE   AMERICAN   APPENDIX.  171 

This  is  the  incommunicable  name.  There  are  differ- 
ences of  opinion  as  to  its  exact  meaning,  but  there 
is  no  difference  as  to  its  being  the  chosen  and  charac- 
teristic apjiellation  of  the  God  of  the  Scriptures,  the 
One  who  revealed  Himself  to  Ilis  people  and  entered 
into  covenant  with  them.  Elohim  is  the  God  of 
nature,  the  creator  and  preserver  of  men,  but  Je- 
hovah is  the  God  of  revelation  and  redemption  ;  and 
this  wealth  of  meaning  in  the  latter  term  is  increased 
if  we  regard  it  as  involving  the  ideas  of  eternal  and 
immutable  self -existence  which  its  derivation  is  gen- 
erally considered  to  imply.  Now,  why  should  such 
a  peculiar  and  pervading  feature  of  the  living  oracles 
be  effaced  from  the  English  Bible  ?  Why  should  a 
habit,  originating  in  nothing  but  superstition,  be  re- 
tained ?  The  only  answer  is  the  shock  to  usage  given 
by  the  change  in  such  a  multitude  of  places  in  the 
Bible. ^     But  this,  though  it  be  sore  enough,  is  not 

*  Mr.  Arnold  indeed  gives  another  reason  in  his  "Isaiah  of 
Jerusalem" — viz.,  that  Jehovah  "has  a  mythological  sound." 
But  how  can  that  he,  when  it  has  for  nearly  three  centuries 
been  in  the  Authorized  Version  in  seven  places  ?  Most  persons 
are  accustomed  to  make  a  wide  distinction  between  Scripture 
and  mythology.  Is  it  possible  that  Mr.  Arnold  was  influenced 
by  an  unconscious  recalling  of  the  opening  stanza  of  Poj^e's 
••Universal  Prayer,"  fitly  so  called,  as  no  rational  individual 
could  thus  worship  he  knows  not  what  ? 

Father  of  all  I  in  every  age, 

In  every  ciime  adored, 
By  saint,  by  savage,  and  by  sage, 
Jehovah,  Jove,  or  Lord  ! 

If  this  be  so,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  where  one  reader 
of  the  English  Bible  has  gotten  his  conception  of  Jehovah  from 


172  OLD   TESTAMEJs^T   REVISIO^T. 

sufficient  to  justify  so  great  a  departure  from  fidelity 
as  is  found  in  the  common  version,  for  this  departure 
operates  to  obscure  the  very  thing  which  the  author 
of  the  Bible  intended  to  make  prominent.  Words 
are  often  things,  and  nowhere  so  clearly  as  in  the 
names  of  the  divine  Being.  Witness  the  emphasis 
laid  on  this  word  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  'New. 
''  This  is  my  name,  and  this  is  my  memorial  to  all 
generations"  (Ex.  iii.  15).  ''His  name  through 
faith  in  His  name  hath  made  this  man  strong' '  (Acts 
iii.  16).  The  sentiment  of  the  passage  in  Exodus  is 
reproduced  in  Ps.  xxx.  4  (xcvii.  12),  where,  however, 
it  is  quite  obscured  in  the  rendering  of  the  Author- 
ized Version,  which  is  retained  in  the  British  re- 
vision, "  Give  thanks  at  the  remembrance  of  His 
holiness."     The  true  sense  of  the  passage  is  : 

Sing  praise  unto  the  Lord,  O  ye  saints  of  His, 
And  give  thanks  to  His  holy  memorial  name. 

And  so  in  Hosea  xii.  5  we  read  "  Jehovah  is  His 
memorial,"  where  the  whole  point  of  the  sentiment 
lies  in  the  divine  name.  The  American  Company 
felt  that  it  was  due  to  the  English  reader  that  he 
should  be  able  to  see  in  his  Bible  all  the  stress  which 
the  Most  High  has  been  pleased  to  lay  upon  His 
chosen  characteristic  name. 

II.  The  Avord  Sheol  is  rendered  in  the  Authorized 
Version  variously  as  ''the  grave,"  "the  pit"  or 
' '  hell. ' '  The  English  revisers  in  some  cases  substituted 

Pope,  at  least  fifty  have  drawn  theirs  from  the  occasional  use  of 
the  word  in  that  Bible. 


THE   AMERICAN"   APPENDIX.  173 

the  transliteration  of  the  Hebrew  word,  but  in  others 
allowed  the  old  rendering  to  remain.  The  Appendix 
asks  that  the  transliteration  should  be  carried  through 
the  book  without  exception.  The  reasons  are  that 
this  saves  the  necessity  of  a  periphrasis,  since  no  one 
English  word  expresses  the  full  sense  of  the  Hebrew, 
and  it  is  not  wise  to  substitute  a  description  for  a 
definition.  The  original  term,  whatever  be  its  deri- 
vation, simply  denotes  the  state  or  place  of  departed 
spirits,  considered  as  the  common  abode  of  the  right- 
eous (Gen.  xxxvii.  35)  and  the  wicked  (Ps.  ix.  17). 
The  Authorized  Yersion's  renderings  of  it  are  there- 
fore misleading.  ''  Hell"  in  popular  English  is  the 
place  of  endless  punishment,  a  sense  which  Blieol 
never  has.  The  cjrave  and  \X\q  jpU  refer  primarily  to 
the  body,  and  so  miss  the  very  point  of  Sheol,  which 
refers  to  the  sj^irit.  The  only  safe  way  is  to  trans- 
literate the  word  throughout,  and  then  the  English 
reader,  studying  all  the  passages  in  which  it  occurs, 
can  arrive  at  his  own  conclusion  as  to  its  meaning. 
It  is  of  course  unpleasant  and  undesirable  to  intro- 
duce a  new  and  foreign  word  into  a  book  for  the 
people,  but  in  this  case  no  resource  is  left.  Any 
other  course  would  darken  the  mind  of  the  Spirit. 

Classes  HI. ,  lY.  and  Y.  express  simply  a  prefer- 
ence for  modern  usage  over  ancient.  Many  prefer 
the  archaisms  as  not  misleading  and  as  in  keeping 
with  the  venerable  age  of  the  Scriptures,  but  others 
insist  that  the  book  which  is  put  into  the  hands  of 
all  the  young  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  read  should 
represent  the  grammatical  forms  in  vogue  among  all 


174  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

good  writers  of  our  own  day.  A  very  large  majority 
of  the  American  Committee  sided  with  the  latter,  and 
hence  tlie  substitutions  recommended. 

Class  YI.  respects  renderings  in  the  margin  that 
have  been  borrowed  from  the  Septuagint  version,  the 
Yulgate  or  other  ancient  "  authorities."  The  inser- 
tion of  these  is  based  on  the  presumption  that  the 
variations  found  in  these  versions  originated  in  vari- 
ations in  the  Hebrew  codices,  which  the  authors  of 
tliose  versions  had  before  them.  Without  denying 
that  such  matters  are  well  worthy  of  the  scholar's 
careful  attention,  the  American  Committee  yet  felt 
that  there  was  an  element  of  uncertainty  about  them 
which  forbade  the  notion  of  presenting  them  even 
as  alternative  readings  in  a  book  intended  for  the 
people.  The  English  Bible  is  a  version  of  the  He- 
brew Bible  as  we  have  it  from  the  hands  of  them 
to  whom  ''  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God." 

Class  Yll.  contains  a  variety  of  details,  very  many 
of  which  explain  themselves,  or  at  least  suggest  the 
reasons  for  their  adoption.  For  example,  "  adder" 
is  substituted  for  ''  basilisk,"  because  the  latter  word 
conveys  to  most  readers  no  more  meaning  than  the 
original  Hebrew  would  convey.  Other  words,  such 
as  seethe^  sod,  chapiter,  fenced  (in  the  sense  of  forti- 
fied), fray,  mount  (in  the  sense  of  mound),  ouches^ 
sith,  tell  (in  the  sense  of  number  or  count),  are  prac- 
tically obsolete.  '^  A  lamb  of  the  first  year"  is  an 
ambiguous  expression,  but  the  change  of  the  last  four 
words  into  *^  a  year  old  "  gives  the  sense  of  the 
original  clearly  and  exactly.     The  phrase   '^  son  of 


THE   AMERICAN   APPENDIX.  175 

Belial"  seems  to  imply  that  Belial,  which  simply 
means  worthlessiiess  and  then  wickedness^  is  the  name 
of  an  evil  spirit,  for  which  there  is  indeed  plenty  of 
authority  in  Milton  but  none  in  the  Scripture,  save 
possibly  in  11.  Cor.  vi.  15,  where  Belial  (true  text, 
Beliar)  is  put  in  opposition  to  Christ,  and  where 
many  think  it  is  simply  a  personification  of  the  evil 
principle.  It  seemed  to  the  American  Company  that 
to  resolve  the  phrase  into  its  obvious  meaning  would 
be  a  gain  to  the  reader.  The  phrase  "  God  forbid  " 
is  removed,  because  it  does  not  seem  reverent  to  in- 
troduce the  divine  name  in  an  exclamation  where  it 
does  not  appear  in  the  original.  ^'  Lamp"  takes  the 
place  of  ''  candle,"  because  the  latter  never  has  been 
known  in  the  East,  and  is  not  found  there  now  save 
as  introduced  by  foreigners.  ''  New  wine"  is  in- 
serted whenever  it  represents  the  Hebrew  word 
usually  so  translated,  in  order  that  the  English  reader 
may  for  himself  trace  the  usage.  No  one  would 
guess  that  "apothecary"  and  ''confectionery"  in 
the  Authorized  Version  simply  mean  "  perfumer  ;" 
and  since  such  is  unquestionably  the  fact,  it  seems 
better  to  j)ut  the  correct  word  in  the  text.  To  say 
that  God  ''sitteth  upon  the  cherubim*'  does  not 
convey  a  sense  suitable  to  our  concejDtions  of  the 
divine  majesty  ;  and  it  is  equally  correct  and  far  more 
dignified  to  say  that  ''  Re  sitteth  {i.e.^  as  king  =  en- 
throned) above  the  cherubim,' '  these  exalted  creat- 
ures being  considered  as  bearers  of  His  throne.  It  is 
worth  while  to  substitute  scoffer  for  scorner^  because 
the  latter  word  now  refers  mainly  to  a  mental  emo- 


176  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

tion,  whereas  the  other  implies  the  outward  expres- 
sion of  such  emotion,  which  is  what  the  original  word 
means.  It  greatly  increases  the  vividness  of  a  pas- 
sage when,  instead  of  the  word  t7ntsty  w^hich  represents 
several  different  Hebrew  terms,  we  find  the  phrase 
take  refuge^  which  is  the  exact  sense  of  the  original. 
So  the  phrase  "  wait  on,"  which  now  means  to  serve 
or  minister  J  entirely  falls  short  of  the  signification  of 
the  Hebrew  verb  =  waitfoi\  and  therefore  a  change 
is  required  if  the  reader  is  to  know  just  what  the 
book  says.  Modern  usage  expresses  the  loud  lamen- 
tation of  intelligent  beings  by  the  word  ''  wail"  and 
not  by  'Miowl,"  which  is  usually  reserved  for  irra- 
tional creatures.  For  euphemistic  reasons,  '^  harlot" 
is  substituted  for  "  whore,"  and  '^  play  the  harlot" 
for  ''  go  a  whoring."  To  justify  these  substitutions, 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  while  both  words  and  phrases 
have  precisely  the  same  meaning,  there  is  a  large 
class  of  persons  to  whom  one  seems  much  more  coarse 
and  offensive  than  the  other.  It  cannot  be  wrong  to 
gratify  an  innocent  predilection  like  this. 

II.    SINGLE    PASSAGES — THE    PENTATEUCH. 

In  Genesis  xviii.  19  the  phrase  of  the  Authorized 
Version  "to  do  justice  and  judgment"  is  retained 
in  the  revision.  This  is  objected  to  not  only  because 
it  is  a  tautology,  but  because  it  conceals  an  important 
distinction  of  the  two  original  words,  one  of  which 
expresses  man's  duty  toward  God  (righteousness),  the 
other  his  duty  toward  his  fellow  (justice).  In  xlix. 
3  the  change  of  "excellency"  into  "pre-eminence" 


THE   AMERICAN^   APPENDIX.  177 

is  both  more  literal  and  more  effective,  since  the 
point  of  Reuben's  position  as  tirst-born.  was  not 
simply  that  he  liad  dignity  and  power,  but  that  he 
had  more  of  these  than  any  of  his  brethren — i.e.,  had 
the  pre-eminence. 

In  Exodus  i.  21  the  saying  that  God  made  the 
mid  wives  ''  houses"  is  often  misunderstood  as  if  it 
were  material  structures  He  built  for  them,  yet  there 
seems  no  doubt  that  what  is  meant  is  ^'  households" 
(or  families),  a  meaning  which  the  word  has  in  scores 
of  instances,  even  according  to  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion. It  ought,  then,  for  perspicuity  to  be  inserted 
here.  In  xvii.  14,  where  the  Lord  tells  Moses  to 
write  his  purpose  to  destroy  Amalek,  ^'  in  a  book," 
the  proposed  addition  of  the  marginal  rendering 
*^  Or,  the  hook  ' '  is  by  no  means  a  trifle,  since  it  gives 
the  article  of  the  original,  and  besides  suggests  the 
important  fact  that  a  regular  record  was  habitually 
kept  at  that  time.  In  xix.  5  God's  promise  to  Israel, 
*'  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me,"  has  often 
been  misconceived  as  meaning  that  Israel  should  be 
a  peculiar  people  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  phrase. 
The  exact  sense  of  the  words  is  given  in  the  Appen- 
dix, ^'  mine  own  possession" — i.e.^  peculiarly  mine — 
mine  in  a  sense  in  which  no  other  people  is.  (See 
Appendix  on  Dent.  vii.  6.) 

In  Leviticus  xvi.  8  the  revision  puts  in  the  margin 
''  dismissal  "  as  the  probable  meaning  of  the  translit- 
erated Hebrew  Azazel  (or  scapegoat).  The  Appen- 
dix prefers  the  stronger  word  ^'removal"  as  more 
faithful  and  more  suitable.     The  much- vexed  pas- 


178  OLD   TESTAMENT  REVISIOIf. 

sage,  xviii.  18,  is  tliiis  rendered,  ''  Thoushalt  not  take 
a  woman  to  lier  sister  to  be  a  rival  to  her  .  .  .  beside 
the  other  in  her  hfetime."  The  Appendix  reverts 
to  the  Authorized  Version,  '^  Thon  shalt  not  take  a 
wife  to  her  sister,"  because  this  is  the  obvious  mean- 
ing of  the  prohibition,  and  because  the  word  in  ques- 
tion is  again  and  again  in  this  very  chapter  rendered 
wife^  and  there  is  no  reason  for  choosing  another  ren- 
dering here. 

In  Numbers  v.  21,  22  tlie  change  proposed  in  the 
Appendix  is  simply  euphemistic.  The  reason  of  it  is 
that  in  a  book  intended  for  both  sexes  and  all  ages, 
and  for  public  as  well  as  private  reading,  a  euphe- 
mistic expression  is  always  to  be  preferred  when  it 
leaves  the  sense  unchanged.  In  vii.  13  and  else- 
where the  obsolete  word  ''  charger"  is  exchanged  for 
its  exact  equivalent,  ''platter."  ^Yhatever  may  be 
the  state  of  the  case  in  England,  it  is  certain  that  in 
this  country  not  one  reader  in  a  hundred  would 
understand  what  was  meant  by  "  a  silver  charger." 
In  several  verses  in  ch.  xix.,  the  purifying  water, 
made  by  infusion  of  the  ashes  of  a  red  heifer 
slain  and  burnt  in  a  peculiar  way,  is  called  ''the 
water  of  separation."  The  Appendix  prefers  the 
phrase  "  water  for  impurity,"  both  as  more  faithful 
to  the  Hebrew,  and  as  better  adapted  to  exj^ress  the 
exact  purpose  for  which  the  red  heifer  water  was 
prepared.     It  was  intended  to  purify  the  unclean. 

In  Deuteronomy  the  margin  "  hill  country  "  pro- 
posed to  be  added  to  "  mountain"  in  iii.  25,  is 
meant  to  suggest  that  here  the  sense  may  be  made 


THE   AMERICAiq-   APPENDIX.  179 

plainer  bj  attaching  to  tlie  word  rendered  nnountain 
the  wider  sense  which  it  unquestionahly  has  very 
often  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  not  one  parti c- 
nlar  peak  or  knoll  that  Moses  longed  to  see,  but  the 
whole  mountainous  region  of  which  Palestine  mainly 
consists.  In  iv.  34  the  margin  ''  trials  "  is  justly 
preferred  to  the  text  "temptations,"  since  a  com- 
parison of  the  other  passages  in  which  the  word  occurs 
shows  that  it  is  not  moral  enticements  that  are  re- 
ferred to,  but  the  chastisements  inflicted  upon  Pha- 
raoh and  other  adversaries.  The  change  of  "in  any 
wise"  to  "  surely"  in  xvii.  15  and  xxii.  7  is  made 
in  the  interest  of  perspicuity  ;  and  the  same  is  to  be 
said  of  the  substitution  of  "  judge  amiss  ' '  for  "  mis- 
deem ' '  in  xxxii.  27. 

THE    niSTORICxiL    BOOKS. 

In  Joshua  v.  10,  11  the  phrase  "old  corn,"  re- 
tained from  the  Authorized  Version  in  therevison,  is 
misleading,  for  the  original  word  does  not  specify 
any  kind  of  cereals,  new  or  old,  bnt  merely  what  the 
land  is  wont  to  yield,  and  hence  the  Appendix  prop- 
erly proposes  to  substitute  the  term  "  produce." 
In  xvi.  1  the  revision  reads,  "  And  tlie  lot  for  the 
children  of  Joseph  went  out  from  the  Jordan,"  etc., 
connecting  the  verb  with  the  locality,  whereas  the 
meaning  is  that  "  the  lot  came  out  [from  the  urn  or 
receptacle  of  the  lots]  for  the  children  of  Joseph," 
etc.  So  in  the  second  verse  of  the  next  chapter 
the  revision  reads,  "  And  the  lot  was  for  the  rest  of 
Manasseh,"  as  if  this  was  a  new  statement  in  addition 


180  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION. 

to  what  preceded,  whereas  it  is  a  raere  resumption  of 
what  has  gone  before.  The  Appendix  therefore 
reads,  "  So  the  lot  was  for  the  rest,"  etc.  In  xxii. 
10  we  read  of  ^' a  great  altar  to  see  to,"  which  is 
certainly  obscure  if  not  ambiguous  ;  hence  the  Ap- 
pendix renders  '' a  great  altar  to  look  upon" — ^.^., 
its  size  would  impress  the  spectator.  In  the  20th 
verse  a  different  rendering  of  the  divine  names  is  a 
manifest  improvement.  ^'  The  Lord,  the  God  of 
Gods,"  is  changed  into  ''The  Mighty  One,  God, 
Jehovah."  Tlie  first  noun  is  a  name  signifying 
Power  ;  the  second  is  tlie  ordinary  name  for  Deity  ; 
the  third  is  the  covenant  name  of  Him  who  called 
Israel  to  be  His  people.  The  whole  together,  El^ 
EloMm^  Jehovah,  expresses  all  that  to  an  Israelite 
was  commanding  and  impressive  in  the  Being  whom 
he  worshipped.  The  same  combination  reappears  in 
the  first  verse  of  the  50th  Psalm. 

In  Judges  iii.  20,  instead  of  "  summer  parlor,"  the 
Appendix  proposes  "  cool  upper  room,"  for  this  is 
all  that  the  original  words  mean.  In  v.  26,  instead 
of  "  the  nail,"  which  Jael  is  represented  as  using  to 
kill  Sisera,  the  Appendix  says  "  the  tent-pin,''  which 
is  what  the  implement  is  called  in  the  preceding 
chapter  (vv.  21,  22).  The  revision  corrects  the 
Authorized  Version  in  one  chapter,  but  not  in  the 
other.  It  seems  plain  that  the  poetical  account 
should  correspond  with  the  prose  narrative.  In  ix. 
15  the  Authorized  Yersi on  and  the  revision  represent 
the  bramble  in  Jotham's  parable  as  saying  to  the  trees, 
''  Put  your  trust  in  my  shadow,"  but  it  is  evident 


THE   AMERICAN-   APPENDIX.  181 

that  the  meaning  is  the  '^  shade"  which  the  bramble 
offers.  Hence  the  Appendix  suggests  this  change 
here,  and  in  many  other  phaces  where  it  is  clearly 
called  for.  In  the  same  chapter  (v.  52)  it  is  said  of 
Abimelech  that  he  ''  went  hard  unto  the  door  of  the 
tower,"  which  is  not  clear  to  ordinary  readers,  for 
which  reason  the  Appendix  substitutes  the  mod- 
ern phrase  ''he  drew  near."  The  questions  of 
Manoah  to  the  angel  in  xiii.  12  are  given  by  the 
revision,  ''  "What  shall  be  the  manner  of  the  child, 
and  what  shall  be  his  work  V '  The  Appendix  bet- 
ter represents  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  original 
by,  ''  What  shall  be  the  ordering  of  the  child,  and 
how  shall  we  do  unto  him  ?"  A  comparison  of  v. 
8  shows  that  Manoah  wished  to  learn,  not  what  the 
child  was  to  do,  but  how  his  parents  were  to  deal 
with  him.  In  xv.  15  what  the  Hebrew  says  of  the 
jawbone  with  which  Samson  did  such  execution  was 
not  that  it  was  ''  new,"  but  that  it  was  "  fresh."  It 
might  have  been  very  old,  but  it  was  still  moist,  and 
therefore  strong. 

In  Kuth  ii.  10  the  Moabitish  maiden  tells  Boaz,  ac- 
cording to  the  Authorized  Version  and  the  revision, 
that  she  was  a  "  stranger  ;"  but  the  Appendix  suggests 
what  the  Hebrew  says,  that  she  was  ''  a  foreigner." 
The  same  change  applies  well  to  David's  address  to 
Ittai  the  Gittite  (II.  Sam.  xv.  19),  "For  thou  art 
a  foreigner."  A  more  important  emendation  occurs 
in  iii.  11,  where  Euth  is  called  ''  a  virtuous  woman," 
which  she  certainly  was.  But  the  word  means  more, 
both  here  and  in  Prov.  xii.  4  and  xxxi,  10,  and  can 


182  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION". 

be  fairly  rendered  onl  y  by  some  siicb  term  as  ^  ^  ca- 
pable, ' '  or,  as  the  Appendix  prefers,  ' '  worthy. ' '  Vir- 
tue is  the  sine  qua  non  of  a  reputable  woman,  but 
some  may  have  that  and  nothing  else.  Ruth  was  not 
of  that  class. 

In  I.  Samuel  ii.  20  Eli  appears  by  the  Authorized 
Version  to  be  promising  Hannah  further  oifspring 
instead  of  ''  the  loan  which  was  lent  to  the  Lord  ;" 
but  the  Api^endix  renders  ''for  the  petition  which 
was  asked  of  the  Lord."  And  this  is  true  to  the 
fact.  Samuel,  as  his  name  shows,  was  asked  of  the 
Lord,  and  was  therefore  not  lent  but  consecrated  ir- 
revocably to  Him.  Eli  prays  for  other  children  in  his 
place.  In  v.  26  Samuel  not  only  ''  was  "  in  favor 
both  with  the  Lord  and  with  man,  but  "  increased  " 
in  the  same,  as  the  Appendix  says,  for  the  Hebrew 
expresses  an  advance  equally  in  years  and  in  favor. 
The  expression  in  iii.  1,  "  there  was  no  open  vision," 
is  so  obscure  as  to  be  almost  unintelhgible  ;  the  Ap- 
pendix makes  it  clear  by  rendering  ''no  frequent 
vision."  In  x.  2  the  Authorized  Version,  followed 
by  the  revision,  makes  Samuel  say  to  Saul,  "  Thy 
father  hath  left  the  care  of  the  asses  and  taketh 
thought  for  you."  To  bring  this  into  conformity 
with  modern  usage,  the  Appendix  puts  it,  "  Thy 
father  hath  left  off  caring  for  the  asses,  and  is  anxious 
for  you."  (Cf.  ix.  5.)  This  corresponds  with  the 
Revised  ']^ev^  Testament  in  Matt.  vi.  25,  31,  34. 
In  V.  24  "God  save  the  king"  is  changed  into 
"Long  live  the  king,"  because  this  is  all  that  the 
original  means,  and  the  needless  use  of  the  divine 


THE   AMERICAIT   APPENDIX.  183 

name  should  be  avoided.  In  xiv.  47  ''  vexed  them" 
is  made  "put  them  to  the  worse,"  because  the 
former  rendering  is  both  inadequate  and  ambiguous. 
In  xxiv.  11  it  is  proposed  to  substitute  "life"  for 
"soul,"  as  the  object  of  Saul's  pursuit  of  David, 
since  it  was  plainly  David's  death  which  the  king 
sought,  and  it  is  well  to  hinder  plain  readers  from 
making  a  mistake.  In  xxv.  13  the  Appendix  substi- 
tutes "  baggage  "  for  "  stuff  "  ("  two  hundred  abode 
by  the  stuff"),  making  the  same  change  which 
the  revision  made  at  xvii.  22,  where  it  is  surely  no 
more  needed  than  it  is  here.  The  omission  of  the 
margin  to  xxv.  22,  34  recommends  itself. 

In  II.  Samuel  v.  2,  instead  of  "  Thou  shalt  feed 
my  people  Israel,"  the  Appendix  proposes,  "  Thou 
shalt  be  the  shepherd  of  my  people,"  etc.  This  is 
the  meaning  of  the  original  word,  which  implies 
much  more  than  is  contained  in  the  term.  Feed.  See 
a  fine  example  in  Ps.  xlix.  14  (and  also  in  Rev. 
vii.  lY),  Revised  Yersion.  "  Widow  woman"  and 
*'  widow"  in  English  mean  precisely  the  same  thing. 
It  is  hard  to  see  therefore  why,  in  deference  to  a 
mere  Hebraism,  the  longer  form  should  be  retained 
in  our  version,  as  it  is  in  xiv.  5  and  elsewhere.  So 
in  V.  26  the  retention  of  "  polled  his  head,"  instead 
of  "  cut  the  hair  of  his  head,"  seemed  to  the  Am- 
erican Company  the  preferring  of  a  misleading 
archaism. 

In  I.  Kings  vi.  6  it  is  proposed  to  substitute  "  off- 
sets" for  "  rebatements,"  on  the  ground  that  it 
being  hard  enough  to  understand  the  construction  of 


184  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION. 

the  temple  any  way,  no  needless  difficulties  from 
obsolete  terms  should  be  left  to  embarrass  the  mean- 
ing. The  same  thing  is  to  be  said  of  the  proposed 
substitution  of  "panels"  for  "borders"  in  vii.  28, 
29.  In  X.  15,  16  the  change  of  "  chapmen"  into 
"  traders"  and  of  "  targets"  into  "  bucklers"  is  sim- 
ply the  surrender  of  obsolete  terms  or  meanings. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  substitution  of  "cakes" 
for  "  cracknels"  in  xiv.  3.  "  Jar"  is  proposed  for 
"barrel"  in  xvii.  12,  11,  16,  because  the  original 
does  not  mean  barrel,  and  that  measure  is  too  large, 
for  the  circumstances.  The  substitution  of  "go  ye 
halting"  for  "halt  ye,"  in  xviii.  21,  is  for  the 
reason  that  it  better  expresses  the  vacillation,  the 
habitually  shifting  inconsistent  course  which  the 
prophet  reproves.  The  fault  rebuked  was  not  their 
taking  a  middle  ground  between  two  parties,  but 
their  adhering  now  to  one,  and  again  to  the  other. 

In  II.  Kings  ii.  23  the  Appendix  asks  that  the 
margin  "  young  lads"  be  put  in  the  text  in  place  of 
"  little  children,"  because  the  Hebrew  term  {na'ar)  * 
has  the  same  latitude  of  meaning  as  toy  used  to  have 
in  our  Southern  States,  where  it  was  applied  in  the 
case  of  slaves  equally  to  a  babe  in  arms  and  to  a  man 
of  seventy.  The  offenders  here  were  evidently  not 
mere  children,  but  half-grown  persons,  and  are 
therefore  properly  described  as  young  lads^  and  again 
as  (v.  24)  lads.  In  xvii.  6  the  phrase  "  in  Ilabor,  on 
the  river  of  Gozan,"  it  is  proposed  to  replace  by 

*  Compare  II.  Sam.  xvii.  1  and  II.  Kings  iv.  31. 


THE    AMERICAN"    APPENDIX.  185 

^^  on  the  Habor,  the  river  of  Gozan,"  because  there 
seems  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the  word  denotes  the 
chief  affluent  of  the  Euphrates,  known  as  Khabour. 
In  xix.  Y  the  Appendix  changes  '^  a  rumor"  into 
''tidings,"  because  the  word  means  not  a  vague 
report,  but  a  definite  communication  or  message. 
The  other  change  proposed  in  this  chapter — viz., 
V.  35,  "  these  were  all  dead  bodies,"  is  due  to  an  at- 
tempt to  escape  the  tautology  (which,  it  must  be 
confessed,  exists  in  the  Hebrew),  "  they  were  all 
dead  corpses." 

In  I.  Chronicles  ix.  19  the  Authorized  Version 
and  the  revision  m^ention  "  the  gates  of  the  taber- 
nacle," which,  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew,  the 
Appendix  turns  into  "  the  thresholds  of  the  tent." 
In  the  same  chapter  (v.  28)  "tale"  is  changed  to 
*' count,"  the  former  word  being  almost  obsolete. 
In  the  statement,  xxviii.  17,  that  David's  pattern  of 
the  temple  which  he  gave  to  Solomon  came  to  him 
*'  by  the  Spirit,"  the  revision  removes  the  capital 
letter  of  the  Authorized  Yersion,  which  the  Appen- 
dix proposes  to  restore,  as  it  is  hard  to  conceive  what 
else  the  phrase  can  mean  than  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord, 
the  same  Spirit  which  filled  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab 
of  old. 

In  II.  Chronicles  xxxvi.  3  the  Authorized  Version 
says  that  the  King  of  Egypt  "  condemned  the  land 
in  a  hundred  talents  of  silver,"  etc.  The  revision 
substitutes  ' '  amerced  "  f or  "  condemned. "  For  this 
the  Appendix  proposed  to  read  "  fined  "  as  more  in- 
telligible to  modern  readers.     In  v.  17  the  revision 


186  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISIOX. 

changes  ^'  liim  that  stooped  forage"  into  *^  ancient," 
for  which  the  Appendix  proposes  '^  hoary  headed," 
as  being  both  literal  and  unambiguons. 

In  Esther  ii.  17  it  is  said  of  Esther  that  she  ob- 
tained ''  grace  and  favor"  in  the  sight  of  the  king. 
The  Appendix  proposes  to  substitute  ''  favor  and 
kindness,"  in  accordance  with  a  purpose  to  render 
the  Hebrew  words  uniformly. 

THE    POETICAL    BOOKS. 

In  Job  i.  1,  8  and  ii.  3  the  revision  retains  the  Au- 
thorized Version's  word  "  eschewed,"  but  the  Ap- 
pendix (following  the  example  of  the  J^ew  Testa- 
ment revisers  in  I.  Peter  iii.  11)  substitutes  '^  turned 
away  from,"  as  a  plainer  term.  In  the  last  verse  of 
the  chapter  the  revision  reads  '^  nor  charged  God  with 
foolishness,"  but  the  xlppendix  prefers  to  retain  the 
text  of  the  Authorized  Yersion,^'  charged  God  fool- 
ishly," and  also  its  margin,  '^  Or,  attribiUecl folly  to 
God.^^  In  iii.  4  the  revision  retains  the  Authorized 
Version,  ^'  Let  not  God  regard  it  from  above,"  but 
the  Appendix  renders  more  exactly  the  form  and 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew,  ^'  Let  not  God  from  above 
seek  for  it" — i.e.^  Let  not  Him  who  is  on  high 
seek  after  it  that  it  may  duly  appear.  The  change 
proposed  in  v.  11  is  a  euphemism  which  preserves 
the  full  sense,  and  is  therefore  acceptable.  In  v.  19 
the  insertion  of  the  article  before  ^'  great"  in  the 
sentence,  "  The  small  and  great  are  there,"  is  re- 
quired both  by  euphony  and  grammar.  In  v.  21: 
'*  my  roarings  are  poured  out  like  waters,"  the  pro- 


THE   AMERICAN    APPENDIX.  187 

posed  substitution  of  "  groanings  "  for  '^roarings" 
commends  itself  as  more  appropriate  to  the  utter- 
ances of  a  human  being.  In  iv.  4,  ^'  Thou  hast 
confirmed  the  feeble  knees,"  the  proposed  change 
of  ''  confirmed  "  to  '^  made  firm"  conforms  to  mod- 
ern usage,  and  renders  the  phrase  at  once  intelli- 
gible. [But  the  same  change  is  required  in  Is.  xxx\^. 
3.]  In  V.  6  the  transposition  suggested  by  the  Ap- 
pendix makes  the  sense  of  the  question  more  clear. 
Does  not  your  confidence  rest  upon  your  fear  of 
God?  and  your  hope  upon  your  integrity  ?  In  vi.  2 
it  is  hard  to  see  any  meaning  in  the  last  word  of  the 
clause,  ''  Oh  that  my  calamity  were  laid  in  the  bal- 
ances together  !"  Hence  the  Appendix  omits  it, 
and  renders,  Oh  that  all  my  calamity,  etc. — a  sense 
which  the  Hebrew  will  certainly  bear,  and  which  is 
every  way  appropriate.  (A  similar  instance  of  the 
same  amended  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  is  to  be  seen 
in  xxiv.  4.)     In  v.  10  the  revision  reads, 

Then  should  I  yet  have  comfort  ; 

Yea,  I  would  exult  in  pain  that  spareth  not  ; 

For  I  have  not  denied  the  words  of  the  Holy  One. 

The  Appendix  proposes  as  more  literal,  and  more 
congruous  after  Job's  request  for  death,  to  render 
the  words  as  a  calm  assurance  of  innocence  : 

And  be  it  still  my  consolation, 

Yea,  let  me  exult  in  pain  that  spareth  not, 

That  I  have  not  denied,  etc. 

In  V.  25  is  the  question,  ^'  What  doth  your  argu- 
ing reprove  ?"  which  is  rather  blind.     The  Appen- 


188  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

dix  renders  literally,  ^^  Your  reproof,  wliat  doth  it 
reprove  ?"  The  kind  of  reproving  that  comes  from 
yon,  what  does  it  amonnt  to  ?  In  v.  26,  as  often 
elsewhere,  "  imagine"  is  used  where  modern  usage 
requires  "  tliink  "  or  '' pnrpose"  to  be  substitnted. 
In  vii.  4  the  revision  reads, 

When  I  lie  down,  I  say 

"When  shall  I  arise  ?  but  the  night  is  long  :  etc., 

but  the  Appendix  prefers  the  old  form  of  the  second 
member,  which  is  simpler  and  quite  as  true  to  the  origi- 
nal, '^  When  shall  1  arise,  and  the  night  be  gone  ?" 
In  V.  Y,  "  my  life  is  wind, "  the  Appendix  suggests  the 
more  emphatic  "  my  life  is  a  breath."  In  v.  17 
''heart"  is  changed  to  "mind,"  because  this  is 
what  the  passage  means.  The  question  is,  Why 
God  should  make  man  of  any  importance  or  busy 
Himself  at  all  with  him,  not  why  He  should  bestow 
any  affection  upon  him.  In  ix.  20  the  revision 
reads. 

If  we  speak  of  the  strength  of  the  mighty,  lo  He  is  ihej^e  ! 
But  if  of  judgment,  who  will  ajjpoint  me  a  time? 

The  Appendix  better  preserves  the  balance  of  the 
clauses,  and  makes  clearer  the  sense,  by  reading, 

If  we  speak  of  strength,  lo  He  is  mighty  ! 

But  if  of  judgment,  who,  saiih  He,  will  summon  me  ? 

That  is,  if  the  question  be  one  of  power,  of  course 

He  will  crush  me  ;  but  if  it  be  one  of  right,  then  God 

asks  who  can  summon  Him  to  adjudge  the  question  ? 

In  x.  22  the  revision  follows  for  the  most  part  the 


THE    AMERICAN    APPENDIX.  189 

Authorized  Yersion.  The  x\ppendix  Avould  read  it 
thus  : 

The  land  dark  as  midniglit  ; 

The  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  without  any  order, 

And  where  the  light  is  as  midnight, 

adding  as  margin  to  midnight  "  Or,  thich  darkness.''^ 
This  is  quite  as  literal  as  what  it  supplants,  and  more 
effective.  The  difficult  line  in  xi.  6,  that  God  would 
show  the  secrets  of  wisdom — "  That  it  is  manifold  in 
effectual  working,"  the  Appendix  puts  thus,  ^'  For 
He  is  manifold  in  understanding,"  which  is  simpler, 
more  suitable  and  equally  true  to  the  original.  The 
similarly  obscure  passage  in  v.  12  the  revision  renders, 

But  a  vain  man  would  be  wise  ; 
Though  man  is  born  as  a  wild  ass's  colt, 

making  a  contrast  between  the  two  members.  The 
Appendix  considers  the  second  an  emphatic  repetition 
of  the  first,  thus  : 

But  rain  man  is  void  of  understanding  : 
Yea,  man  is  born  as  a  wild  ass's  colt. 

This  seems  better  suited  to  the  connection  than  the 
other.  In  xii.  4,  instead  of  "^  ma7i  that  called," 
the  Appendix  puts  ''I  who  c'alled,"  thus  bringing 
out  Job's  full  meaning  that  it  was  a  monstrous  thing 
that  he,  a  man  who  called  upon  God  and  received 
an  answer,  should  be  made  a  laughing-stock.  In  xii. 
23,  where  the  revision  reads,  "  He  spreadeth  the 
nations  abroad  and  bringeththem  in,"  the  Appendix 
makes  the  sense  clearer  by  rendering,  ^'  He  enlargeth 
the  nations,  and  He  leadeth  them  captive. ' '     And  in 


190  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOIs". 

tlie  next  line,  instead  of  ''  He  taketli  away  the  heart 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  people,"  the  Appendix  has, 
''  He  taketh  away  understanding  from  the  chiefs," 
etc.,  which  is  beyond  doubt  what  the  line  means. 
In  xiii.  8  the  Hebraism,  ''  Will  ye  accept  His  per- 
son," retained  from  the  Authorized  Version,  is  re- 
solved by  the  Appendix  into  its  exact  equivalent  in 
our  idiom,  "  Will  ye  show  partiality  for  Him  ?"  So 
in  V.  10.  In  v.  11  "excellency"  becomes  '^maj- 
esty," which  is  the  manifestation  of  excellency.  In 
the  very  familiar  passage,  v.  13,  the  revision  re- 
tains the  first  clause  of  the  Authorized  Version,  and 
renders,  ''  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  w^ill  I  wait  for 
Him,"  but  the  Appendix  is  more  literal,  and  gives 
the  true  sense,  "  Behold,  He  will  slay  me  ;  I  have 
no  hope. "  It  is  not  pleasant  to  resign  a  version  which 
expresses  such  triumphant  faith,  and  has  therefore 
become  dear  to  pious  hearts  in  all  generations,  but  it 
must  be  done.  The  rendering  ''  Though  He  slay" 
is  impossible.  In  v.  16  the  revision  retains  the 
Authorized  Version  (with  a  slight  change), 

He  also  shall  be  my  salvation  ; 

For  a  godless  man  shall  not  come  before  him. 

But  the  Appendix  prefers  to  read, 

This  also  shall  be  my  salvation, 
That  a  godless  man  shall  not,  etc. 

— i.e.,  Job's  desire  to  appear  before  God  is  evidence 
of  innocence,  and  so  an  assurance  of  his  safety,  for 
no  one  conscious  of  wrong- doing  would  venture  this. 
In  XV.    12  '^  And  why  do    thine  eyes  wink?"  the 


THE   AMERICAN   APPEiq"DIX.  191 

change  of  "  wink"  to  ^'  flasli"  gives  the  sense,  and 
is  clear.  In  v.  27  "  made  collops  of  fat  on  his  flanks" 
is  obscure,  and  hence  changed  to  ''  gathered  fat  upon 
his  loins."  For  the  same  reason  the  margin  of  v.  29 
is  preferred  to  the  text.  In  xvii.  2  Job's  saying, 
''  mine  eye  abideth  in  their  provocation,"  is  ambig- 
uous ;  to  say  "  it  dwelleth  upon  their  provocation  " 
— i.e.,  it  must  do  so — is  plain.  In  v.  T  ''  I  am  be- 
come an  open  abhorring  "  gives  way  to  the  more 
literal  and  vigorous  "  They  spit  in  my  face."  In 
xix.  17  is  another  euphemism,  which,  however,  pre- 
serves all  the  force  of  the  original.  The  famous 
passage  25-27  is  thus  given  in  the  Appendix  : 

But  as  for  me,  I  know  that  my  redeemer  liveth. 

And  at  last  he  shall  stand  up  upon  the  earth  ; 

And  after  my  skin,  even  this  body,  is  destroyed, 

Then  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God  ; 

"Whom  I,  even  I,  shall  see  on  my  side. 

And  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  as  a  stranger. 

Job  expected  to  die,  but  even  then  he  will  see 
God,  see  Him  on  his  side,  and  no  more  as  estranged 
or  hostile.  The  rendering  here  given  is  certainly  a 
possible  one,  and  the  sense  quite  suitable  to  the  con- 
nection. In  V.  28  the  margin  "  And  that"  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  text  ^^  Seeing  that,"  because  the 
sense  seems  to  be  that  if  Job's  friends  continued  to 
pursue  him  and  insist  that  the  root  of  the  matter 
(the  real  cause  of  his  inflictions)  was  in  himself,  they 
should  suffer. 

In    xxi.   32,   ^'  And    shall    keep   watch   over   the 
tomb, ' 


192  OLD   TESTAMEJST   REVISION. 

the  verb  watch  does  away  with  the  apparent  absurd- 
ity of  a  body  in  the  gra\^e  keeping  watch  over  the 
tomb.  In  xxii.  14  to  say  that  "  God  walketh  on 
the  vault  of  heaven"  is  more  clear  and  vivid  than 
to  say  He  walketh  "in  the  circuit  of  heaven."  In 
xxiv.  12  ''  God  imputeth  it  not  for  folly,"  the  Ap- 
pendix prefers  "  regardeth  not  the  folly  " — i.e.^ 
gives  no  heed  to  the  wrong  done,  which  is  the  sense 
the  connection  requires.  In  xxix.  6  and  elsewhere 
"  rivers"  is  turned  into  ''  streams,"  because  the 
latter  word  better  represents  the  Hebrew,  and  is 
more  suited  to  the  circumstances.  In  xxxi.  2  ''  what 
is  the  portion  of  God  from  above  ?"  the  true  sense 
is  given  by  reading  "  from  God  above,"  and  by  a 
corresponding  change  in  the  next  line.  In  v.  31  the 
ambiguous  "  satisfied  with  his  flesh"  is  changed  into 
"  filled  with  his  meat."  In  xxxii.  19  "breast"  is 
introduced  emphemistically  as  a  full  equivalent  to 
the  Hebrew.  In  xxxv.  6  ' '  doest ' '  is  changed  to 
"  effectest,"  because  "  doest  "  occurs  in  the  next 
line,  where  it  renders  a  different  Hebrew  verb.  In 
xxxvi.  18  the  revision  reads,  "  Because  there  is  wrath, 
beware  lest  thou  be  led  away  by  thy  sufiiciency,"  but 
it  gives  a  better  and  clearer  sense  to  render,  "  For  let 
not  wrath  stir  thee  up  against  chastisement,"  for  Job's 
wrath  was  enticing  him  to  rebellion.  (Cf.  xxxiv.  37.) 
In  xxxvii.  1  the  slight  change  of  "At  this  also"  into 
"  Yea,  at  this"  makes  the  connection  with  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  closer  ;  and  in  v.  2  "  Hear,  oh  hear  " 
is  immensely  more  forcible  than  "Hearken  ye 
unto,"    and    represents    the    Hebrew   exactly.     In 


THE   AMERICAN   APPENDIX.  193 

xxxviii.  10  '^  prescribed  for  it  my  decree,"  a  mental 
act  does  not  suit  the  connection  nearly  so  well  as  the 
concrete  physical  effect,  ' '  marked  out  for  it  my 
bound" — i.e.,  fixed  a  limit  to  the  sea.  In  v.  30 
the  obscure  ''  the  waters  are  hidden  as  with  stone" 
is  well  changed  into  "  hide  tliemselves  and  hecome 
like  stone,"  w^hich  exactly  and  poetically  represents 
the  formation  of  ice.  In  xxxix.  5  the  term  "  wild 
ass"  occurs  in  both  members,  but  as  the  Hebrew 
employs  two  different  words,  the  Appendix  properly 
puts  "  swift  ass"  in  the  second  member.  In  v.  13 
the  revision  greatly  improves  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion, but  the  Appendix  better  preserves  the  fine 
poetic  touch  of  the  original, 

The  wings  of  the  ostrich  wave  proudly  ; 

But  are  they  the  pinions  and  plumage  of  love  ? 

In  V.  IG,  instead  of  ^'  She  is  hardened  against  her 
young,"  as  the  x\utliorized  Version  and  the  revision, 
the  Appendix  gives  the  true  sense,  ^'  She  dealeth 
hardly  with."  So  in  v.  28  the  form  and  spirit  of  tlie 
Hebrew  are  well  given  in  the  spirited  rendering  of 
the  Appendix, 

Upon  the  cliff  she  dwelleth  and  maketli  her  home, 
Upon  the  point  of  the  cliff  and  the  strong  hold. 

In  xl.  15  '^  w^hich  I  made  wnth  thee"  is  made  to  say 
by  the  Appendix  what  all  admit  that  it  means — i.e., 
"  which  I  made  as  well  as  thee."  So  in  v.  19  the 
lumbering  clause  "  He  only  that  made  him  can  make 
his  sword  to  approach  unto  Him"  is  wisely  changed 
to  ^'  He  that  made  himgiveth  him  his  sword."     The 


194  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISIOK. 

changes  in  the  last  chapter  of  '  ^  comely  proportion'' 
into  ''goodly  frame"  and  of  '' neesings"  into 
''sneezings"  are  in  the  interest  of  fidelity  and 
clearness. 

TBE   PSALMS. 

Book  I. — In  ii.  1  and  xxxviii.  12  the  margin  "  med- 
itate" is  substituted  for  the  text  "imagine,"  be- 
cause the  latter  word  does  not  sufficiently  express  the 
force  of  the  original.  In  v.  7  it  is  better  English 
to  say  "abundance"  of  lovingkindness  than  "mul- 
titude' '  of  the  same.  In  ix.  17  to  say  that  the  wicked 
shall  "  return  to  Sheol  "  implies  that  they  have  been 
there  before,  wherefore  "  return"  is  changed  to  "be 
turned  back  unto."  In  x.  14  the  phrase  "to  re- 
quite it  with  thy  hand ' '  is  quite  as  faithful  to  the 
obscure  Hebrew  as  "to  take  it  into  thy  hand,"  and 
much  more  lucid.  In  xii.  2  the  Hebrew  may  mean 
"falsehood  "  as  well  as  "vanity,"  and  the  connec- 
tion here  requires  the  former.  (Similar  is  the  change, 
xxvi.  4,  xli.  6,  cxliv.  8.)  In  v.  5,  "  For  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  poor,  now  will  I  arise,"  the  substitu- 
tion of  "because  of"  in  place  of  "  for,"  prevents 
ambiguity,  and  makes  the  meaning  plain  at  once. 
The  proposed  substitution  in  xvi.  2  of  "  (?  my  soul^ 
thou  hast  said  "  for  "  I  have  said,"  is  due  simply  to 
an  unwillingness  to  depart  from  the  Massoretic  inter- 
punction.  The  sense  is  the  same  with  either  read- 
ing. In  xvii.  7,  "  shew  thy  marvellous  lovingkind- 
ness," etc.,  the  Authorized  Version  is  preferred,  be- 
cause the  version  given  in  the  revision,  although 
more  faithful  to  the  form  of  the  original,  is  unidio- 


THE   AMERICAjq"   APPENDIX.  105 

matic  and  lumbering  in  aliigli  degree.  In  v.  15  the 
reading  of  tlie  Authorized  Yersion,  retained  in  the 
revision,  ^^  I  shall  be  satisfied  .  .  .  with  thy  like- 
ness," is  rejected  as  positively  misleading.  The 
Psalmist  does  not  expect  to  be  like  God,  but  to  see 
Ilim  (as  the  parallelism  shows),  and  hence  the  Ap- 
pendix renders  ^^  with  heholclmg  thy  form,"  which 
is  the  meaning.  In  xxi.  3  for  obvious  reasons 
^' meetest  "  is  substituted  for  the  obsolete  (in  this 
sense)  word  '' preventest."  In  xxii.  8  ''deliver" 
in  the  second  line  is  changed  to  "  rescue,"  because 
"  deliver"  occurs  in  the  first  line,  where  it  renders  a 
different  Hebrew  verb.  In  v.  10  a  grateful  euphem- 
ism preserves  the  full  sense  of  the  original  by  render- 
ing ' '  Thou  art  my  God  since  my  mother  bare  me. ' ' 
In  V.  16  the  preference  for  the  revision's  margin, 
''  Like  a  lion,"  over  the  text,  "  they  pierced,"  rests 
upon  the  fact  that  the  Massoretic  text  requires  the 
former,  while  the  latter  is  derived  from  the  ancient 
versions.  The  substitution  of  "Be  their  shepherd  " 
for  "  Feed  them,"  in  xxviii.  4,  is  made  because  the 
latter  fails  far  short  of  the  meanins*  of  the  orio^inal. 
Feeding  is  only  one  of  a  good  shepherd's  offices.  In 
XXX.  4:  for  "  Give  thanks  for  a  remembrance  of  His 
hohness"  it  is  proposed  to  read  "  Give  thanks  to  His 
holy  memorial  name^^'^  because  a  comparison  w^ith 
Ex.  iii.  15  (where  God  says  of  His  name  Jehovah, 
"  This  is  my  memorial  unto  all  generations")  shows 
that  the  latter  |)hrase  is  what  the  Hebrew  means. 
(Cf.  cii.  12,  cxxxv.  13.)  In  v.  5  "  His  favor  is  for 
a  lifetime"   is  preferred  to  "  In  His  favor  is  life, " 


196  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

because,  while  the  Hebrew  allows  either,  the  former 
is  better  suited  to  the  form  of  the  original  and  to  the 
parallelism.  The  change  of  ^'  judgment  "  into 
''justice"  in  xxxiii.  5  and  often  elsewhere,  is  re- 
quired by  the  modern  difference  between  the  two 
words,  which  makes  the  former  a  very  inadequate 
representation  of  the  original.  In  xxxvii.  3  the 
familiar  and  blessed  promise,  ''  and  verilj  thou  shalt 
be  fed,"  is  rejected,  because  it  is  a  grammatically- 
impossible  version.  Of  other  versions  which  are 
possible,  the  Appendix  selects  that  one,  ''  Feed  on 
His  faithfulness,' '  which  is  most  poetical,  represent- 
ing God's  veracity  as  the  very  food  by  which  His 
servants  are  sustained.  So  in  v.  37,  ''  the  latter  end 
of  that  man  is  peace"  cannot  fairly  be  gotten  from 
the  Hebrew,  and  hence  the  Appendix  prefers  the 
rendering,  "there  is  a  happy  end  to  the  man  of 
peace,"  which  accords  with  the  usage  of  the  word 
end.     (Of.  Prov.  xxiii.  18.) 

Book  II. — In  xlii.  5,  ''the  health  of  His  counte- 
nance" (so  V.  11  and  xliii.  5),  the  word  "  health"  is 
exchanged  for  "  help,"  because  the  latter  gives  the 
sense  of  the  Hebrew,  which  the  former  does  not. 
The  change  proposed  in  xliv.  2  is  important  in  order 
to  prevent  misconception.  The  revision,  following 
mainly  the  Authorized  Yersion,  renders. 

Thou  didst  drive  out  the  nations  with  thy  hand,  and  plantedst 

them  in  ; 
Thou  didst  afflict  the  peoples,  and  cast  them  forth. 

The  alteration  makes  more  clear  what  all  admit  to 
be  the  sense  : 


THE   AMERICAN"   APPENDIX.  197 

Thou   didst   drive  out   tlie   nations   witli  thy  hand,  but  them 

thou  didst  plant  ; 
Thou   didst   afflict,  the   peoples,  but   them   thou   didst  spread 

abroad. 

God  did  one  thing  to  tlie  heathen ,  but  just  the  op- 
site  to  His  people. 

In  xlix.  8  the  substitution  of  '^  life"  for  ^^soul" 
is  necessary,  for  most  readers  would  suppose  "  the 
redemption  of  the  soul  "  meant  propitiation,  whereas 
the  whole  reference  is  to  bodily  existence,  which  the 
writer  tells  us  no  wealth  can  buy.  And  so  in  the 
next  clause  it  is  said  of  any  proposed  ransom,  not 
that  it  ''must  be  let  alone  forever,"  but  that  "it 
faileth  forever" — i.e.^  comes  absolutely  to  an  end. 
In  V.  12  the  Authorized  Version  ''man  being  in 
honor  abideth  not ' '  is  preferred,  because  this  is  the 
very  point  of  the  psahn,  that  no  degree  of  wealth  or 
station  can  secure  permanence  in  life.  "  Conversa- 
tion "  in  1.  23  is  changed  to  "way,"  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  New  Testament  revisers  gave  up  the 
word  when  used  in  the  now  obsolete  sense  of  "  de- 
portment." In  li.  11  "spirit"  is  spelled  by  the 
Appendix  "  Spirit,"  because  the  reference  must  cer- 
tainly be  to  a  divine  spirit.  In  v.  12  "  willing"  is 
put  in  place  of  "free,"  because  the  latter  term  in 
this  connection  is  not  so  easily  understood.  In  lii.  9 
the  phrase  "  I  will  wait  on  thy  name"  is  ambiguous. 
The  sense  is  made  clear  by  putting  "  hope  in"  for 
"wait  on."  In  Ivi.  4  the  obscure  utterance,  "In 
God  I  will  praise  His  word  :  In  God  have  I,"  etc., 
is   greatly  relieved    by  putting  the  words  "  I  will 


198  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

praise  His  word  "  in  a  parentliesis,  so  that  the  verse 
runs  smoothly.     Thus  : 

In  God  (I  will  praise  his  word), 
In  God  have  I  put  my  trust. 

The  same  in  v.  10.  In  lix.  10,  instead  of  '^  The 
God  of  my  mercy  shall  prevent  me,"  the  Appendix 
proposes,  in  accordance  with  the  Massoretic  text,  to 
render 

My  God  with  His  lovingkindness  shall  meet  me, 

which  is  richer  as  well  as  plainer.  In  Ixii. ,  ^ '  my  soul 
waiteth  in  silence  for  God  only"  is  more  faithful  and 
more  emphatic  than  the  revision  ''  my  soul  waiteth 
only  upon  God."  In  v.  3  "  leaning"  is  substituted 
for  '*  bowing,"  because  ^^  a  bowing  wall  "  is  often 
misunderstood.  The  substitution  of  "  earnestly"  for 
*'  early"  in  the  sentence  Ixiii.  1,  ''  early  will  I  seek 
thee,"  is  according  to  all  modern  lexicographers. 
In  Ixv.  iii  ''  forgive  them"  takes  the  place  of  '^  purge 
them  away,"  because  this  better  expresses  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  which  relates  to  a  forensic  act  and 
not  to  a  subjective  process.  In  Ixviii.  13  the  re- 
vision makes  a  question,  ^'"Will  ye  lie  among  the 
sheepfolds  as  the  wings  of  a  dove  covered  with 
silver,"  etc. ;  the  Appendix  prefers  to  treat  the  verse 
as  an  assertion,  ^'  When  ye  lie,  etc.  (are  at  rest),  it  is 
as  the  wings,"  etc.  That  is,  your  prosperity  is  as 
splendid  as  the  changeable  colors  of  a  dove's  plu- 
mage. In  V.  18  the  Hebraism  ''led  captivity  captive" 
is  reduced  to  the  English  idiom,  "led  away  cap-. 
tives."     The  meaning  of  v.  20,  "  unto  the  Lord  be- 


THE   AMERICAN   APPENDIX.  199 

long  the  issues  from  death,"  is  made  clearer  by  read- 
ing '^  belongeth  escape  from  death."  So  in  v.  23,  to 
render,  '^  That  thou  majest  crush  ihe77i,  dij)ping  thy 
foot  in  blood  "  is  more  exact  than  to  say, '^  That 
thou  may  est  dip  the  foot,"  etc. 

Book  III. — In  Ixxiii.  10  the  obscurity  of  the 
words  ' '  waters  of  a  full  cup  are  wrung  out  by 
them"  is  removed  by  changing  ^' wrung  out"  into 
'^  drained."  (Cf.  Ixxv.  10.)  In  xc.  9  the  revision 
has,  ^'  We  bring  our  years  to  an  end  as  a  tale  that  is 
told  /"  the  Appendix  displaces  the  singular  and  ob- 
scure periphrasis  at  the  end  of  the  line  by  the  word 
^'  sigh,' '  which  is  at  least  one  meaning  of  the  Hebrew 
term.  In  v.  17,  ''  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  be  upon 
us,"  the  substitution  oi  favor  iov  heauty  gives  the 
sense,  and  converts  obscurity  into  lucidity.  In  xcii. 
13  the  revision  follows  the  Authorized  Version  in 
treating  the  verse  as  an  identical  proposition. 

They  that  are  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
Shall  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God. 

The  Appendix  is  faithful  to  the  Hebrew  in  making 
the  verse  a  continuous  description  of  the  righteous, 
thus, 

They  are  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
They  shall  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God. 

In  xciii.  1  it  is  hard  to  see  any  gain  in  the  re- 
visers' change  of  ^'clothed"  into  ^'apparelled." 
Hence  the  Appendix  reverses  this,  and  reads  the 
second  line, 

JehoTah    is   clothed   with    strength,  He  hath    girded  Himself 
therewith. 


200  OLD   TESTAMENT    REYISION*. 

In  xcvii.  5  the  cliange  of  "  hills''  into  ^'  mountains" 
is  required  by  fidelity,  and  by  the  loftiness  of  the 
thought.  It  is  mountains  that  melt  like  wax  before 
Jehovah.  In  ciii.  5,  "  who  satisiieth  thy  m6)2^i5A  with 
good  things,"  the  word  rendered  "  mouth"  has  long 
been  a  cross  to  critics.  As  it  cannot  be  rendered 
literally,  it  is  better  to  take  a  term  such  as  the  Ap- 
pendix offers — viz.,  '^desire,"  which  is  of  larger 
compass  than  one  like  ''mouth,"  wdiich  is  confined 
to  bodily  sustenance.     In  civ.  4  the  revision  renders 

Who  maketh  winds  His  messengers, 
His  ministers  a  flaming  fire, 

which  is  an  improvement  upon  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion ;  but  the  Appendix  preserves  the  parallelism 
and  adheres  to  the  form  of  the  original  by  reading 
the  second  member  "  Flames  of  fire  His  ministers." 
"Winds  and  flames  are  alike  His  servants.  In  v.  8, 
''they  went  up  by  the  mountains,  they  went  down 
by  the  valleys"  is  a  possible  rendering  of  the  original, 
but  it  is  far  more  poetical  to  render,  as  in  the  mar- 
gin, "The  mountains  rose,  the  valleys  sank."  In 
cv.  34  "  caterpillar"  is  put  in  place  of  "  canker- 
worm,"  because  since  the  Hebrew  has  no  exact 
equivalent  in  English,  it  is  better  to  use  a  familiar 
term  than  one  that  is  obsolete. 

Book  Y. — In  cvii.  30  the  revision  changes  "  their 
desired  haven"  of  the  Authorized  Version  into  "  the 
haven  where  they  would  be."  The  Appendix  re- 
stores the  Authorized  Version  as  being  both  faithful 
and  idiomatic.     In  ex.  3  the  revision  retains  the  mis- 


THE    AMERICAN^    APPENDIX.  201 

translation  of  the  Autliorlzed  Version  in  the  clause 
"  beauties  of  holiness."  The  Appendix  divides  the 
verse  differently,  and  brings  out  a  clearer  and  more 
consistent  sense, 

Thy  people  offer  themselves  willingly 
In  the  day  of  thy  power,  in  holy  attire  : 

Out  of   the  womb  of   the  morning   thou   hast   the  dew  of  thy 
youth. 

AYhen  God  marshals  His  host,  His  people  freely 
offer  themselves  in  sacerdotal  array  as  servants  of  a 
priestly  king  :  as  the  dew  is  freshly  produced  every 
morning,  so  they  have  perpetual  succession  by  con- 
stant renewal.  In  cxi.  11  the  Authorized  Version, 
''  A  good  understanding  have  all  they  that  do 
His  commandments^''^  \^  better  than  the  proposed 
'^  .  .  .  they  that  do  thereafter,"  which  is  awkward 
and  harsh.  In  cxvi.  1,  ''  I  love  the  Lord,  because  He 
heareth  my  voice"  is  better  than  "  because  He  hath 
heard,"  both  in  point  of  faithfulness  to  the  original 
and  as  a  representation  of  present  experience.  In 
cxix.  38  the  revision  reads, 

Confirm  thy  word  unto  thy  servant, 
Which  belongeth  unto  thy  fear. 

But  the  Appendix  follows  the  order  of  the  original, 
and  gives  its  sense  better  by  reading, 

Confirm  unto  thy  servant  thy  word. 
Which  is  in  order  to  thy  fear, 

i.e.^  make  good  to  him  the  word  which  thou  didst 
utter  in  order  to  be  feared.  In  v.  158,  "  1  beheld  the 
treacherous  dealers,"  the  last  word  adds  nothing  to  the 


202  OLD   TESTAMEJs'T   REVISIO:S". 

sense,  and  may  properly  be  omitted.  In  cxxii.  tlie 
obscure  statement  that  the  tribes  go  up  to  Jerusalem, 
^'a  testimony  unto  Israel,"  is  altered  to  read,  "  an 
ordinance  for  Israel,"  thus  pointing  to  the  well- 
known  fact  that  their  visit  to  the  capital  was  a  divine 
requisition.  In  cxxx.  6,  instead  of  saying  ^'  my  soul 
looheth  for  the  Lord,"  the  Appendix  prefers  to  sup- 
ply the  same  verb  as  the  Authorized  Version — viz., 
waiteth.  In  cxxxix.  13,  for  ''  thou  hast  possessed  my 
reins"  the  Appendix  reads,  ^' thou  didst  form  my 
reins,"  which  is  certainly  more  intelligible.  So  in 
V.  16,  '^  thou  didst  see  mine  imperfect  substance, "  the 
change  of  ''imperfect"  into  ''unformed"  makes 
the  meaning  plain.  In  cxliii.  2  the  revision  follows 
the  Authorized  Version  in  saying  "  in  thy  sight  shall 
no  man  living  be  justified,"  but  the  Appendix  ren- 
ders more  exactly,  "in  thy  sight  no  man  living  is 
righteous."  Incxllv.  7, 11  occurs  the  term  "strange 
children,"  which  misleads.  The  Hebrew  has  no 
reference  to  age,  and  means  simply  "  strangers"  or 
rather  "  aliens." 

Proverbs. — In  iv.  18,  "  the  path  of  the  righteous 
is  as  the  shining  light,"  the  beautiful  figure  is  made 
more  vivid  by  turning  "  shining"  iuto  "  dawning," 
which  the  Hebrew  admits.  In  vii.  22  the  obscure 
statement  that  one  following  false  guides  goeth  "  as 
fetters  to  the  correction  of  the  fool ' '  is  illumined  by 
the  change  of  "  fetters"  into  "  one  in  fetters."  In 
ix.  7  "shame"  is  altered  to  "reviling,"  because 
this  and  not  self-reproach  is  what  befalls  him  that 
corrects  a  scorner.     In  x.  7  (and  elsewhere)  the  sub- 


THE   AMERICAN   APPENDIX.  203 

stitntion  of  ^' rigliteous"  for  '^  just"  rests  upon  tlie 
fact  that  the  former  means  more  than  the  hitter,  and 
so  represents  the  original.  In  xxv.  11  the  rendering 
^'  apples  of  gold  in  baskets  of  silver"  misses  the 
point  that  the  word  for  "  baskets"  evidently  means 
something  through  whose  interstices  the  golden 
fruit  shows  itself  ;  hence  "  network"  better  ex- 
presses the  meaning.  In  xxvii.  4,  '^  wrath  is  cruel 
and  anger  is  outrageous,"  the  substitution  of  "  over- 
whelming" for  the  last  word  is  nearer  the  Hebrew  (=  a 
flood),  and  better  suits  the  connection.  Respecting 
''virtuously"  in  xxxi.  29,  see  on  Ruth  iii.  11.  In 
V.  30  "  Grace"  is  substituted  for  "  Favor,"  because 
the  Hebrew  means  an  inherent  personal  quality,  and 
not  something  adventitious,  dependent  u^^on  the 
opinion  of  others. 

EccLEsiASTEs. — In  iii.  11  the  revision  follows  the 
Authorized  Version  in  rendering  ''  also  He  hath  set 
the  world  in  their  heart,"  the  objection  to  which  is 
that  this  gives  to  the  word  translated  by  "  world  "  a 
sense  which  it  never  has  elsewhere  in  Biblical 
Hebrew.  The  Appendix,  in  accordance  with  most 
scholars,  renders  the  word  "eternity."  In  vi.  10 
the  change  of  "it  is  known  that  it  is  man"  into  "  it 
is  known  what  man  is"  rests  simply  upon  the  better 
sense  thus  attained.  The  Hebrew  admits  either 
rendering.  In  vii.  15  the  change  of  "  the  days  of 
my  vanity"  into  "my  days  of  vanity"  is  merely 
giving  up  a  Hebrew  idiom  for  one  that  is  English. 
The  alteration  suggested  in  x.  1  is  a  euphemism 
which  no  whit  affects  the  sense.     The  substitution 


204  OLD   TESTAMENT    REYISION. 

of  '^  dawn"  for  "  prime"  in  the  sentence,  xi.  10, 
"  youth  and  the  prime  of  life  are  vanity,"  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  this  sense  of  the  obscure  Hebrew  is  at 
least  as  well  founded  lexically  as  the  other,  and  better 
suits  the  context.  The  changes  in  xii.  1,  2,  6  are 
made  in  the  interest  of  perspicuity,  as  well  as  a  closer 
conformity  to  the  original — ''  Kemember  also  thy 
Creator,  etc.,  while  the  evil  days  come  not,  nor  the 
years  draw  nigh,  when  thou  shalt  say,  1  have  no 
pleasure  in  them  ;  while  the  sun  is  not  darkened, 
nor  the  light,  nor  the  moon,  nor  the  stars,  and  the 
clouds  return  not  after  the  rain."  In  v.  6  ''  desire" 
is  substituted  for  "  caper-berry,"  because  though  the 
latter  has  all  lexical  authority  for  it,  it  would  be 
practically  without  significance  to  the  ordinary  reader, 
while  the  rendering  of  the  Autliorized  Version, 
''  desire  shall  fail,"  comes  very  near  to  what  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  meaning — viz.,  that  stimulating  food 
shall  cease  to  rouse  the  flagging  appetites  of  age. 

SoxG  OF  Solomon. — The  adjuration  in  ii.  7,  iii. 
5,  and  viii.  4  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  not  to 
stir  up  ''nor  awaken  love  until  it  please,"  which  is 
the  rendering  of  the  revision,  rests  upon  the  view 
that  the  words  refer  to  the  spontaneity  of  love,  which 
must  not  be  aroused  but  awaken  of  itself — a  doctrine 
neither  of  Scripture  nor  of  sound  ethics.  The  Ap- 
pendix, with  the  great  body  of  interpreters,  takes 
love  as  (abstract  for  concrete)  =  beloved  one,  and 
conceives  the  words  as  those  of  the  bride  who  at 
peace  in  the  arms  of  her  beloved  prays  that  He  may 
not  be  aroused  by  any  intrusion,  thus — "  nor  awaken 


THE   AMERICAN   APPENDIX.  205 

my  love  until  He  please."  It  is  true  the  verb  is 
feminine,  but  this  is  because  tlie  antecedent  is  fem- 
inine. In  vi.  5  "garment"  is  read  for  "coat," 
because  tlie  latter  is  not  suited  to  an  article  of 
woman's  dress.  In  vi.  4  and  10  the  cliange  proposed 
is  intended  to  remove  the  incongruity  tliat  a  person 
evidently  regarded  as  attractive  should  be  spoken  of 
as  "  terrible."  For  this  word  is  substituted  "  over- 
powering, ' '  in  the  sense  that  this  person  so  comely, 
so  fair,  so  bright,  is  as  soul-subduing  by  her  charms 
as  a  bannered  host  by  its  arms.     Hence  the  reading  : 

Who  is  this  that  looketh  forth  as  the  dawn, 

Fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun. 

And  overpowering  as  an  army  with  banners  ? 

The  changes  in  vii.  1,  2  are  due  to  a  desire  for 
perspicuity.  "  Thy  rounded  thighs"  is  as  near  the 
Hebrew  as  "the  joints  of  thy  thighs,"  and  much 
more  intelligible.  The  mention  of  "  sandals"  in  the 
iirst  line  of  the  chapter  shows  that  the  person  de- 
scribed was  in  full  dress,  and  that  being  the  case,  the 
''navel"  is  well  represented  by  "body,"  and 
"belly"  by  "'waist."  The  English  reader  has  a 
clearer  conception  of  the  meaning  by  means  of  these 
changes. 

IsAiAH. — In  ii.  4  the  revision  retains  the  Author- 
ized Version,  "  He  shall  reprove  many  peoples,' '  but 
no  one  disputes  that  the  meaning  of  the  verb  ren- 
dered "  reprove"  is  really  to  "  decide  concerning." 
The  conception  is  not  that  of  a  rebiiker,  but  that  of 
an  umpire.     In  vii.    21   "nourish"   is  changed  to 


206  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

^'  keep  alive,"  because  this  is  the  literal  meaniiig  of 
the  word,  and  expresses  the  exact  sense — viz.,  that 
in  that  day  a  man  shall  preserve  only  a  young  cow  and 
two  sheep,  which,  however,  as  the  next  verse  says, 
would  furnish  an  ample  supply  for  the  remnant  that 
would  be  left.  In  ix.  10  the  Authorized  Version 
and  revision  read,  "  sycamores  are  cut  down,  but  we 
will  change  them  into  cedars  ;"  but  the  Appendix  is 
more  accurate  both  as  to  words  and  sense,  in  render- 
ing the  last  clause  "  will  put  cedars  in  their  place, '^ 
which  is  what  Isaiah  both  means  and  says.  In  x. 
13  the  claim  of  the  king  is  not  merely  "  I  am  23ru- 
dent,"  but  "I  have  understanding,"  which  the 
Hebrew  means.  In  v.  15  "  wield  "  is  substituted 
for  "shake,"  because  our  usage  is  not  to  shake  2^ 
saw  or  a  rod,  but  to  wield  it.  (So  inxi.  15  "  shake" 
is  replaced  by  "  wave"  for  a  similar  reason.)  In 
xiii.  8  "troubled"  gives  way  to  "dismayed,"  be- 
cause the  former  word  is  too  w^eak  for  the  original. 
In  V.  21  "satyrs"  is  exchanged  for  "  wild  goats," 
because  the  prophet  means  a  real  existence  and  not  a 
mythical  being.  In  xxiii.  8  to  call  Tyre  "  the  crown- 
ing c^Y^/"  is  neither  so  faithful  nor  so  expressive  as 
to  say  "  Tyre  that  bestoweth  crowns.  *'  In  v.  13  the 
change  proposed  by  the  Appendix  considers  the 
prophet  as  describing  the  past,  while  the  revision 
views  him  as  setting  forth  the  present  and  the  future. 
The  former  is  more  strictly  literal.  In  xxvii.  1 
"  dragon"  is  replaced  by  "  monster,"  for  the  reason 
that  the  former  is  a  fabulous  animal.  In  xxviii.  T 
"err"  becomes  "  reel,"  and  "  gone  astray"  becomes 


THE   AMERICAiq-   APPENDIX.  207 

**  stagger,"  because  these  are  the  meanings  of  the  He- 
brew words,  and  it  is  a  disadvantage  to  mar  the  vivid- 
ness of  the  picture  by  obliterating  the  outward  physical 
expressions  of  intoxication.  The  changes  proposed 
in  the  difficult  passage,  vv.  24,  25,  are  all  in  the  in- 
terest of  perspicuousness,  and  are  justified  by  the 
original.  In  xxix.  24  to  **  learn  doctrine"  is  mis- 
leading. Hence  the  proposed  change,  to  "  receive 
instruction."  In  xxx.  1  ''  to  cover  with  a  covering" 
is  a  dubious  rendering  of  the  Hebrew,  and  not  very 
suitable.  Hence  the  substitution  of  ''make  a 
league,"  which  is  equally  justifiable  lexically,  and 
far  better  suited  to  the  connection.  The  other 
changes  in  this  chapter  are  all  for  the  sake  of  making 
the  meaning  plainer.  In  xxxii.  10  the  substitution 
of  "ingathering"  for  '' gathering"  shows  that  it  is 
the  bringing  in  of  things,  not  persons,  that  is  in- 
tended. In  xxxiii.  4  "  shall  they  leap"  is  changed 
to  "  shall  men  leaj),"  because  in  what  precedes  there 
is  nothing  expressed  to  which  "  they"  can  refer.  In 
V.  14  "  seized  "  is  put  for  "  surprised,"  because  the 
latter  conveys  a  sense  which  is  not  in  the  Hebrew. 
The  reading  of  xxxiv.  8,  given  in  the  Appendix, 
*'  For  Jehovah  hath  a  day  of  vengeance,  a  year  of 
recompense  for  the  cause  of  Zion,"  is  simply  a  more 
exact  transfer  into  English  idiom  of  the  sense  of  the 
original.  In  xxxviii.  12  the  rendering  "  my  dwell- 
ing is  departed  "  has  as  much  authority  as  '*  mine 
age  is  departed,"  and  is  far  better  suited  to  the  con- 
nection. 

It  is  very  hard  to  attach  any  meaning  to  the  ren- 


208  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISIOK. 

dering  of  xli.  27,  copied  by  the  revision  from  the 
Authorized  Version,  "  The  first  sliall  say  unto  Zion, 
Behold,  behold  them."  But  the  Appendix  renders 
sensibly,  "  1  am  the  first  that  saith,"  etc. — i.e.,  God 
claims  that  He  before  any  one  else  announces  the 
bestowment  of  His  promised  blessings.  In  xlii.  15 
the  ambiguity  of  "  I  will  make  waste  mountains"  is 
removed  by  changing  ^^  make"  into  "lay."  So  in 
xliii.  23,  "  1  have  not  made  thee  to  serve  with  offer- 
ings" is  not  nearly  so  plain  as  '^  I  have  not  burdened 
thee  with  offerings."  In  xlv.  3  the  rendering  '^  thou 
mayest  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  which  call  thee" 
does  not  give  the  emphasis  of  the  original,  which  re- 
quires the  last  clause  to  be  "  that  it  is  I,  Jehovah,  who 
call  thee."  In  xlvi.  3  is  another  euphemism  which 
keeps  the  meaning  while  getting  rid  of  an  obnoxious 
word.  The  clause  ''  will  accept  no  man"  in  xlvii.  3 
is  hardly  intelligible.  To  substitute  "  spare"  for 
"accept,"  as  some  good  critics  do,  at  least  gives  a 
good  sense.  In  v.  5  "  lady  of  kingdoms"  is  neither 
so  faithful  nor  so  expressive  as  "  mistress  of  king- 
doms." In  Hi.  2  the  direction,  "  arise,  sit  thee 
down,"  sounds  like  a  contradiction.  The  true  sense 
is  given  in  the  Appendix,  "  arise,  sit  on  thy  throne,^'^ 
the  supplied  words  being  not  an  arbitrary  addition, 
but  one  suggested  by  Hebrew  usage.  In  v.  10  the 
sentence  "  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  see  the  sal- 
vation of  our  God  ' '  turns  into  a  prediction  what  the 
Hebrew  asserts  as  a  fact — "  The  ends  of  the  earth 
have  seen,"  etc.  In  liii.  1  the  change  of  "  report" 
to  "  message"  gives  the  exact  sense  of  the  original, 


THE   AMERICAN"  APPENDIX.  209 

and  is  more  agreeable  to  our  usage  than  the  Author- 
ized Yei-sion.  In  v.  7  the  rendering  '*  He  humbled 
himself  and  opened  not  his  mouth"  is  a  possible 
one,  but  it  is  quite  allowable,  and  much  more  suit- 
able, to  read  ''  yet  when  he  was  afflicted,  he  opened 
not, ' '  etc.  In  V.  8  a  clearer  sense  is  gotten  by  ren- 
dering with  the  Appendix,  *'  Who  considereth  that 
he  was  cut  ofE  out  of  the  land  of  the  living,  for  the 
transgression  of  my  people  to  whom  the  stroke  was 
due."  In  V.  9,  instead  of  saying  he  was  ^'  with  the 
rich  in  his  death,"  the  Appendix  reads,  ^'  with  a  rich 
man,"  because  in  the  Hebrew  the  noun  is  singular 
and  without  the  article.  In  v.  11  the  ambiguous 
*'  by  his  knowledge"  is  exchanged  for  ^'  by  the 
knowledge  of  himself"  shall  my  righteous  servant 
justify  many.  In  liv.  12  ^'  precious  stones"  repre- 
sents the  original  better  than  "  pleasant  stones."  In 
Ix.  6  ^'  they  all  shall  come  from  Sheba"  does  not 
give  the  exact  sense,  as  does  the  version — '^  all  they 
from  Sheba  shall  come."  In  Ixi.  2  the  familiar 
phrase  ' '  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  ' '  is  not  so 
lucid  as  the  phrase,  '*  the  year  of  Jehovah's  favor." 
In  Ixvi.  5  ^'  but  they  shall  be  ashamed  "  is  weak  and 
tame  beside  the  version  that  gives  the  emphasis  of 
the  original,  "  but  it  is  they  that  shall  be  put  to 
shame."  In  v.  16  what  the  Lord  says  is  not  that  He 
will  ''  plead  with  all  flesh,"  but  that  He  will  ''  ex- 
ecute judgment  upon  all  flesh."  In  v.  20  ^^  obla- 
tion" instead  of  ^'  offering"  brings  out  the  prophet's 
conception  that  what  was  thus  presented  to  the  Lord 
was  not  a  mere  gift,  but  a  devout  ceremonial  service. 


210  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEYISION. 

Jeremiah. — In  ii.  25  ^^  There  is  no  liope"  is  sup- 
planted by  ^'  It  is  in  vain,"  as  being  clearer  to  the 
ordinary  reader.  In  the  difficult  passage,  v.  84,  the 
Appendix  reads,  "  Thou  didst  not  find  them  [viz., 
the  innocent  poor  whose  blood  is  in  your  skirts]  break- 
ing in  :  but  it  is  because  of  all  these  things'^ — [viz., 
your  manifold  wrongdoings  which  they  resisted]. 
They  were  "  innocent  poor,"  for  they  were  not  mur- 
dered for  crime,  but  because  of  their  faithfulness.  In 
iv.  10  the  change  of  "  soul  "  to  "  life"  is  a  conformity 
to  modern  usage.  The  same  is  true  of  the  treatment 
of  "  spoiled  "  in  vv.  13,  20.  When  it  refers  to  per- 
sons, it  is  made  "  despoiled  ;"  when  it  refers  to 
things,  it  becomes  "laid  waste."  In  v.  29  "the 
w^hole  city"  is  made  "  every  city"  (which  is  the 
rendering  of  the  same  Hebrew  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  verse),  because  the  connection  requires  it.  In 
vi.  14  "  they  healed  the  hurt  .  .  .  lightly,"  the  last 
word  is  changed  to  "  slightly,"  to  avoid  ambiguity. 
In  V.  27,  "I  have  made  thee  a  tower  among  my  peo- 
ple," "tower"  is  changed  to  "trier,"  because  the 
Hebrew  requires  this,  as  does  also  the  last  clause, 
"  that  thou  mayest  try  their  way."  In  x.  24,  "  cor- 
rect me  but  with  judgment,"  the  last  two  words  are 
changed  to  "in  measure,"  which  is  the  Authorized 
Yersion's  rendering  of  the  same  phrase  in  xxx.  11 
and  xlvi.  28,  and  is  correct,  for  what  the  prayer  asks 
is  not  just  correction,  but  moderate.  In  xi.  20,  "  let 
me  see  thy  vengeance  upon  them,"  an  imprecation  is 
put  into  the  prophet's  mouth  ;  but  the  verb  is  a 
simple  regular  future,  and  there  is  no  need  to  give 


THE   AMERICAN"   APPENDIX.  211 

Tip  tlie  ordinary  sense  as  expressed  in  tlie  Appendix, 
'^  I  shall  see,"  etc.  In  xiii.  12,  "  Do  we  not  know," 
etc.,  the  Appendix  restores  before  "  know"  the  word 
^'  certainly,"  which  is  in  the  Authorized  Yersion,  but 
was  dropped  in  the  revision  ;  it  is  implied  in  tlie 
Hebrew,  and  adds  to  the  emphasis  of  the  question. 
In  xiii.  21  the  proposed  rendering  of  the  Appendix 
is,  ''  What  wilt  thou  say  when  He  shall  set  over  thee 
as  bead  those  whom  thou  hast  thyself  taught  to  be 
friends  to  tliee  ?" — i.e. ,  those  foreign  potentates  whose 
favor  you  once  courted,  and  supposed  you  bad  ob- 
tained. This  is  simpler  and  easier  than  the  version 
given  in  the  revision.  In  xiv.  12  ^'  oblation"  is 
changed  to  ''meal  offering,"  because  this  is  tlie 
specific  meaning  of  the  word,  and  it  is  required  here 
by  its  connection  with  "  burnt  offering."  In  xviii. 
17  "  I  will  look  upon  their  back  and  not  their  face" 
is  far  less  clear  than  the  proposed  version,  "  1  will 
show  them  the  back  and  not  the  face."  (Cf.  xxxii. 
83.)  In  XX.  7  the  revision,  like  the  Authorized 
Yersion,  renders,  ''  O  Lord,  thou  hast  deceived  me," 
etc.;  but  as  the  Hebrew  does  not  require  so  harsh 
an  utterance,  the  Appendix  proposes,  '^  Thou  hast 
persuaded  me"— ^.^.,  to  assume  the  prophetic  office. 
As  the  same  word  occurs  in  v.  10,  it  is  altered  there 
also.  In  xxi.  5  ''wrath"  is  changed  to  "indigna- 
tion," because  the  former  word  has  been  substituted 
in  the  preceding  clause  for  "  fury" — a  term  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  American  Committee,  should 
not  be  applied  to  the  Most  High.  In  xxiii.  15  "  un- 
godliness" is  substituted  for  "  prof aneness, "  because 


212  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION. 

in  modern  usage  the  latter  word  denotes  only  one 
form  of  sin.  In  xxviii.  13  '' tliou  slialt  make  in 
their  stead  bars  of  iron"  departs  from  the  Hebrew, 
which  puts  the  verb  in  the  preterite.  What  the  Lord 
says  is  that  Ilananiah  has  indeed  broken  the  bars  of 
w^ood,  but  in  so  doing  has  made  bars  of  iron,  as  the 
next  verse  shows.  We  should  render,  therefore, 
"thou  hast  made,"  etc.  In  xxxi.  20,  "Is  he  a 
pleasant  child  V '  is  weak,  if  not  ambiguous.  Hence 
the  change  proposed,  "Is  he  a  darling  child?" 
which  is  the  exact  meaning.  In  the  same  verse,  to 
say  that  "  the  bowels  yearn  [not  "  are  troubled  "]  for 
him,"  is  to  give  the  true  sense.  In  xxxviii.  11  "  cast 
clouts"  is  unmeaning,  while  "  cast  off  clouts"  at 
least  suggests  the  sense.  In  xli.  14  "  all  the  people 
.  .  .  cast  about  and  returned  "  seems  to  mean  that 
they  reflected  and  so  returned,  whereas  all  that  the 
Hebrew  means  is  that  they  "  turned  about  and  came 
back."  In  xlvi.  8,  "  Order  ye  the  buckler  and  the 
shield,"  order  seems  to  mean  command^  but  the 
Hebrew  simply  says,  "  Prepare."  In  xlviii.  28 
Moab  is  compared  to  a  dove  making  her  nest  "in 
the  sides  of  the  hole's  mouth,"  to  which  it  is  hard  to 
attach  any  meaning.  The  Appendix  proposes  to 
read  instead,  "  over  the  mouth  of  the  abyss,"  which 
the  Hebrew  will  admit,  and  which  gives  a  lively  con- 
ception of  Moab's  danger  when  driven  from  her 
bulwarks.  In  1.  7  "  we  oifend  not"  is  ambiguous  ; 
but  "  we  are  not  guilty"  is  clear,  and  also  exact.  In 
li.  34  "  delicates"  would  be  a  puzzle  to  most  readers, 
hence    the  proposed   substitute,    "delicacies."     In 


THE   AMERICAN    APPENDIX.  213 

Lamentations  i.  12  the  Authorized  Yersion  and  the 
revision  speak  ol  "  sorrow  which  is  done  unto  me  ;" 
the  true  idiom  is  given  in  the  Appendix,  "sorrow 
which  is  brought  upon  me."  In  ii.  19  and  iv.  1  the 
same  read  ''  at  the  top  of  every  street,"  but  Enghsh 
usage  is  "  at  the  head  of  every  street." 

EzEKiEL. — In  i.  4  "  color"  is  changed  to  "look," 
and  "amber"  to  "glowing  metal,"  as  being  more 
erxact  representatives  of  the  Hebrew.  In  v.  18 
*'  rings"  is  changed  to  "  rims,"  which  is  more  intel- 
ligible. In  V.  13,  instead  of  "  I  will  satisfy  my  fury 
upon  them,"  which  is  a  somewhat  unamiable  repre- 
sentation of  God,  the  Appendix  puts,  "  I  will  cause 
my  wrath  to  rest  upon  them,"  which  adequately  ex- 
presses the  Hebrew.  In  xiii.  5  to  "  build  up  the 
wall  "  is  both  more  faithful  and  more  suitable  than 
to  "  make  up  the  fence."  In  xvi.  7  '^  bud  of  the 
field  "  does  not  fairly  represent  the  Hebrew,  which 
means  "  that  which  groweth  in  the  field."  So  in  v. 
43  "  hast  fretted  me  in  all  these  things,"  the  word 
fretted  falls  far  short  of  the  true  meaning,  which  is 
well  expressed  in  the  phrase  "raged  against."  In 
XX.  3  the  change  of  "  Are  ye  come  to  inquire  of 
me  ?"  into  "  Is  it  to  inquire  of  me  that  ye  are  come" 
is  required  in  order  to  show  not  merely  the  form,  but 
the  emphasis  of  the  original.  In  xxiii.  8,  21  the 
euphemistic  change  of  "  bruising  the  teats"  into 
"  handling  the  bosom"  speaks  for  itself.  In  xxix.  5 
"  I  will  leave  thee  thrown  into  the  wilderness"  is 
changed  into  ' '  I  will  cast  thee  forth  into, ' '  etc. , 
because  the  stronger  sense  thus  given  to  the  verb  is 


214  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOJST. 

now  admitted,  and  is  nndonbtedlj  better  suited  to 
the  context  here.  In  v.  18  "  every  shoulder  is 
peeled,"  the  last  word  is  neither  literal  nor  of  ob- 
A^ious  meaning,  and  is  therefore  changed  to  ''  worn." 
In  xxxviii.  22  for  "  I  will  plead  against  Him  with 
pestilence,"  etc.,  is  substituted,  "with  pestilence 
and  with  blood  will  I  enter  into  judgment  against 
Him,"  because  this  alone  adequately  represents  the 
original.  In  xliii.  14:  'Medge"  is  substituted  for 
"  settle,"  for  the  latter  term  has  no  meaning,  or  else 
a  misleading  one,  in  this  account  of  the  way  the  altar 
is  to  be  built. 

Daniel. — In  the  revision  the  word  Messiah  disap- 
pears from  both  the  text  and  the  margin  of  Daniel 
ix.  25,  26,  and  therefore  out  of  the  Old  Testament 
entirely.  As  it  is  simply  a  transliteration  of  the 
Hebrew  word  used  in  these  verses,  the  Appendix 
very  pro]3erly  restores  it  to  the  margin,  since  the 
Hebrew  term  may  have  become  in  Daniel's  day,  as 
we  know  it  did  afterward,  a  proper  name.  The 
three  other  changes  in  this  book  proposed  by  the 
Appendix  are  simply  restorations  of  the  Authorized 
Yersion.  To  discuss  their  propriety  would  require 
more  space  than  can  be  given. 

HosEA. — The  dark  passage  in  viii.  11,  '^  Because 
Ephraim  hath  multiplied  altars  to  sin,  altars  have 
been  to  him  for  sin"  is  relieved  by  changing  '^  to 
sin"  in  both  clauses  to  '^  for  sinning,"  referring  ap- 
parently to  the  ^progressive  and  reproductive  power 
of  sin. 

MicAH. — In  iv.    13    the  change    of    "  thou   slialt 


THE    AMERICAN    APPENDIX.  215 

devote  their  gain  unto  the  Lord  "  into  ''  I  shall 
devote,"  etc.,  is  ba^ed  upon  the  Massoretic  pointing 
of  the  text. 

]S"ah[jm. — In  i.  10  '^  though  they  be  like  tangled 
thorns,  and  be  drenched  as  it  were  in  their  drinlv, 
they  shall  be  devoured  utterly"  is  not  more  faithful, 
and  is  certainly  less  simple  and  fluent,  than  what  is 
proposed  in  the  Appendix — "  entangled  like  thorns, 
and  drunken  as  with  their  drink  they  are  consumed." 
In  ii.  1  ^'  munition"  is  supplanted  by  "  fortress,"  as 
more  specific  and  |)lainer.  In  v.  4:  the  prophet  docs 
not  say  that  the  chariots  ''  jostle  one  against  an- 
other," wdiich  would  hinder  their  progress,  but  that 
they  "  rush  to  and  fro,"  the  exact  characteristic  of 
an  invasion.  In  v.  7  the  inexplicable  word  "  Huz- 
zab,"  treated  as  a  proper  name  in  the  Authorized 
Version  and  the  revision,  is  regarded  by  the  Ap- 
pendix as  a  verb,  and  rendered,  ''  And  it  is  decreed, 
she  is  uncovered,"  etc.,  which  at  least  is  intelligible. 
And  so  instead  of  ^'handmaids  .  .  .  tabering  upon 
their  breasts,"  the  Appendix  gives  ^'  beating  upon 
their  breasts."  In  v.  9  '^  goodly  furniture"  repre- 
sents the  Hebrew  better  than  "  pleasant  furniture." 
In  iii.  2  '^  bounding  chariots"  better  comports  with 
lofty  poetry  than  "  jumping  chariots."  In  the  last 
verse  ''  bruit  "  is  changed  to  ''  report,"  for  the  sake 
of  the  reader  not  versed  in  old  English. 

Zechariah. — In  iii.  5  '^  a  fair  mitre"  is  made  ^'  a 
clean  mitre,"  as  is  demanded  by  faithfulness,  and 
also  by  the  contrast  with  filthy  garments  in  the  pre- 
ceding verses.     In   iv.  7    ''  headstone"  is    changed 


2^16  OLD  TESTAMENT   KEVISIOIS". 

to  ^'  topstoiie,"  to  avoid  obscurity  or  ambiguity.  In 
V.  14  ''sons  of  oil"  is  made  "anointed  ones"  by 
resolving  a  Hebrew  idiom  into  English.  In  v.  3 
"purged  out"  is  altered  to  "cut  off,"  which  is 
what  the  Hebrew  means.  In  xiv.  21  the  margin 
proposed  to  "  Canaanite" — viz.,  "  trafficker,"  is  re- 
jected, because  it  seems  impossible  that  a  feature  of 
future  perfect  holiness  should  be  stated  so  as  to  imply 
that  all  trading  is  necessarily  sinful. 

Malachi. — In  iii.  3  "  purge  them  as  gold  and 
silver"  is  changed  into  "refine  them  as  gold  and 
silver,"  refine\>Qmgi]iQ  proper  w^ord  to  describe  such 
a  process.  In  v.  15  "  they  tempt  God  and  are  de- 
livered," the  sense  is  more  clearly  given  by  changing 
the  last  two  words  so  as  to  read,  "  They  tempt  God 
and  escape." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   IMPORTANCE   OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT. 

At  tlie  Reformation  the  principle  that  the  Script- 
ure is  the  supreme  authority  for  faith  and  practice 
was  often  so  apphed  as  to  give  the  Old  Testament 
more  than  its  just  due.  Men  insisted  that  the  whole 
body  of  truth  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  existed 
in  the  Old,  and  that  the  patriarchs  had  exactly  the 
same  knowledge  of  salvation  as  the  apostles,  so  that 
proof  texts  for  all  points  of  doctrine  could  be  drawn 
from  one  as  well  as  the  other.  This  extreme  natu- 
rally provoked  a  reaction,  and  there  arose  men  who 
asserted  that  the  Jewish  religion  is  a  system  by  itself, 
having  no  connection  beyond  that  of  local  origin  and 
chronological  succession  with  the  Christian.  This 
was  substantially  the  view  of  Schleiermacher.  And 
since  his  day  it  has  often  cropped  out  where  least  an- 
ticipated. Even  in  orthodox  communions  are  found 
those  who  habitually  disparage  the  Hebrew  Script- 
ures. Sometimes  they  assert  that  the  Old  Testament 
contains  so  much  that  is  harsh  and  repulsive  that  it  is 
a  burden  to  carry.  At  others  they  declare  that  it  is 
antiquated  and  obsolete,  and  that  it  is  of  no  more  use 
now  than  is  the  light  of  lamps  after  the  sun  has 
arisen.     Serious  objection  has  been  made  even  to  the 


218  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISI02T. 

Siinday-scliool  lessons  of  the  "  International  Series," 
because  many  of  its  selections  have  been  taken  from 
this  part  of  Scripture,  just  as  if  our  Lord  had  never 
said,  "Salvation  is  from  the  Jews,"  or  "If  they 
hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets  neither  will  they  be 
persuaded,  if  one  rise  from  the  dead." 

The  issue  of  the  Revised  Old  Testament  naturally 
calls  attention  to  this  mischievous  error,  and  it  seems 
worth  while  to  set  forth  the  true  state  of  the  case.  Any 
notion  of  the  kind  referred  to  is  a  direct  reflection 
upon  the  divine  Author  of  the  Bible.  It  pleased 
Him  to  reveal  His  will  ''  by  divers  portions  and  in 
divers  manners,"  so  that  it  should  be  a  gradual  de- 
velopment running  through  along  succession  of  ages. 
Yet  this  was  not  done  in  the  way  of  Mohammed, 
the  Mormons  and  other  human  jiretenders  to  inspi- 
ration, with  whom  the  second  disclosure  was  a  repeal 
of  the  lirst.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole  scheme  is 
coherent,  and  hangs  together  as  a  progressive  state- 
ment of  truth  and  duty,  the  former  part  foretelling, 
or  prefiguring,  or  hinting  at  the  latter,  and  the  latter 
implying  and  building  upon  the  former,  so  that  it 
cannot  for  a  moment  be  pretended  that  the  posterior 
portion  comes  as  an  afterthought,  intended  to  amend 
what  went  before,  or  to  supply  gaps  which  had  been 
inadvertently  left.  Evidently  one  presiding  mind 
ruled  over  the  construction  and  the  mutual  relations 
of  both  portions.  J^for  can  the  two  be  separated  with- 
out violence  and  damage.  Upon  this  point  the  lan- 
guage of  the  learned  G.  F.  Oehler  may  be  properly 
quoted.     "We  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  de- 


THE   IMPOllTANCE   OF  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.      219 

ceived.  Tlie  relation  of  the  New  Testament  to  tlie 
Old  is  such  that  both  stand  or  fall  together.  The 
New  Testament  assumes  the  existence  of  the  Old 
T>estament  law  and  prophecy  as  a  positive  presup- 
position. We  cannot  have  tlie  redeeming  God  of 
the  New  Covenant  without  the  Creator  and  cov- 
enant God  preached  in  the  Old  ;  we  cannot  discon- 
nect the  Redeemer  from  the  predictions  He  came 
to  fulfil.  No  New  Testament  idea,  indeed,  is  fully 
set  forth  in  the  Old,  but  the  genesis  of  all  the 
ideas  of  the  New  Testament  relating  to  salvation  lies 
in  the  Old."  (''  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament," 
Day's  edition,  p.  2.)  All  admit  that  the  New 
Testament  is  needed  to  understand  the  Old,  but  it  is 
equally  true,  though  by  no  means  so  generally  ac- 
knowledged, that  the  Old  Testament  is  needed  to 
understand  the  New.  So  many  references  are  made 
by  the  Saviour  and  by  the  apostles  and  evangelists  to 
the  antecedent  revelation  that  any  reader  would 
stumble  unless  he  had  Moses  and  the  prophets  in 
hand.  The  two  Testaments  are  not  the  same,  for  if 
they  were,  why  should  there  be  two  ?  But  they  are 
not  unrelated,  much  less  are  they  op|)Osed  to  each 
other.  Together  they  constitute  one  continuous  body 
of  revelation,  which  proceeds  step  by  step  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  and  is  an  orderly  and  consis- 
tent unfolding  of  the  germ  first  given  at  the  gates  of 
Paradise.  To  discard  or  overlook  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  to  rob  the  Bible  of  its  completeness,  and  to 
miss  the  assurance  and  comfort  which  arise  from  a 
sense  of  its  wondrous  unity  as  animated  by  a  single 


220  OLD   TESTAMENT    REYISIOT^. 

life,  altliougli  set  fortli  under  sncli  varied  circiim- 
stances  and  at  such  different  times.  It  is  to  forget 
that  it  is  one  and  the  same  Spirit  who  uses  the  his- 
tories and  psahns  and  prophecies  of  the  earlier  econ- 
omy, and  the  gospels  and  epistles  of  the  later,  to 
convey  the  AVord  of  God  to  men.  It  is  to  despise 
that  word  of  propliecy  {i.e.,  of  inspiration)  to  which 
one  of  the  latest  books  in  the  New  Testament  tells 
us  to  ''  take  heed  as  unto  a  lamp  shining  in  a  dark 
place,"  clearly  implying  that  it  is  a  revelation  of  the 
divine  will  with  which  we  cannot  safely  or  lawfully 
dispense.     (II.  Peter  i.  19.)"^ 

That  this  opinion  is  not  due  merely  to  doctrinal 
prejudice  is  apparent  from  the  utterances  of  the  line 
critic  Herder  a  century  ago  in  the  preface  to  his 
^'Vo?n  Geist  hebrdischer  Poesie.'''^  ''The  basis  of 
theology  is  the  Bible,  and  that  of  the  New  Testament 
is  the  Old.  It  is  impossible  to  understand  the  former 
aright  without  a  previous  understanding  of  the  lat- 
ter ;  for  Christianity  proceeded  from  Judaism,  and 
the  genius  of  the  language  in  both  books  is  the 
same.  And  this  genius  of  the  language  we  can  no- 
where study  better — that  is,  with  more  truth,  depth, 
comprehensiveness  and  satisfaction  than  in  its  poetry, 
and  indeed,  as  far  as  possible,  in  its  most  ancient 
poetry.  It  produces  a  false  impression  and  misleads 
the  young  theologian  to  commend  to  him  the  New 

*  "  What  Pliny  says  of  nature,  Naturae  rerum  vis  atque  majestas 
in  omnibus  momentis  fide  caret,  si  quis  modo  partes  ejus  ac  non 
totum  cornpJedatur  animo,  is  applicable  to  the  kingdom  of  grace 
in  a  still  stronger  degree."     (Hengstenberg.) 


THE   IMPORTAI^CE   OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.      221 

Testament  to  tlie  exclusion  of  tlie  Old,  for  without 
this  the  other  can  never  be  understood  in  a  scholar- 
like and  satisfactory  manner.  In  the  Old  Testament 
we  find  a  rich  interchange  of  history,  of  figurative 
representation,  of  characters  and  of  scenery.  In  it 
we  see  the  many-colored  dawn,  the  beautiful  going 
forth  of  the  sun  in  his  milder  radiance  ;  in  the  l^ew 
Testament  he  stands  in  the  highest  heavens  and  in 
meridian  splendor,  and  every  one  knows  which  period 
of  the  day  is  the  most  refreshing  and  strengthening  to 
the  natural  eye  of  sense.  Let  the  scholar,  then,  study 
the  Old  Testament,  even  if  it  be  only  as  a  human  book 
full  of  ancient  poetry,  with  kindred  feeling  and 
affection,  and  thus  will  the  'New  come  forth  to  us  of 
itself  in  its  purity,  its  sublime  glory,  its  more  than 
earthly  beauty.  Let  a  man  gather  into  his  own  mind 
the  abundant  riches  of  the  former,  and  he  will  never 
become  in  the  latter  one  of  those  smatterers  who, 
barren  and  without  taste  or  feeling,  desecrate  theso 
eacred  things.""  And  this  is  confirmed  by  indepen- 
dent testimony  gathered  in  the  school  of  experience. 
Mr.  George  Borrow,  who  spent  many  years  in  circu- 
lating the  Scriptures  in  foreign  lands,  makes  this  in- 
teresting and  conclusive  statement  in  his  work  called 
*'The  Bible  in  Spain,"  first  published  in  1843(1 
quote  from  the  end  of  the  48th  chapter)  :  "1  had  by 
this  time  made  the  discovery  of  a  fact  which  it 
would   have  been  well  had  I  been  aware  of  three 

*  This  quotation  is  made  with  some  alterations  from  the  ad- 
mirable translation  of  Herder's  work  by  Dr.  James  Marsh,  pub- 
lished in  1833. 


232  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOl!^. 

years  before — I  mean  the  inexpediency  of  printing 
Testaments,  and  Testaments  alone,  for  [Roman] 
Catholic  countries.  The  reason  is  plain  :  the 
[Roman]  Catholic,  unused  to  Scripture  reading, 
finds  a  thousand  things  which  he  cannot  possibly 
understand  in  the  ^ew  Testament,  the  foundation 
of  which  is  the  Old.  '  Search  the  Scriptures,  for 
they  bear  witness  of  me,'  may  well  be  applied  to 
this  point.  It  may  be  replied  that  ]N"ew  Testaments 
separate  are  in  great  demand  and  of  infinite  utility 
in  England.  But  England,  thanks  be  to  the  Lord,  is 
not  a  papal  country  ;  and  though  an  English  laborer 
may  read  a  Testament  and  derive  from  it  the  most 
blessed  fruit,  it  does  not  follow  that  a  Spanish  or 
Italian  peasant  will  enjoy  similar  success,  as  he  will 
find  many  dark  things  with  which  the  other  is  well 
acquainted,  and  competent  to  understand,  being 
versed  in  the  Bible  history  from  his  childhood. ' ' 

]^or  is  it  without  significance  that  nearly  one  half 
of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  is  composed  of  historical 
matter.  It  is  not  history  in  the  modern  sense  of 
that  term,  investigating  the  causes  of  events  and  ex- 
plaining them  on  philosophical  principles,  but  rather 
a  simple  series  of  annals,  recording  the  progress  of 
affairs  without  any  attempt  to  analyze  characters,  to 
classify  results,  or  to  deduce  the  general  laws  of 
human  development.  The  narrative  portions  of  the 
Old  Testament  are  usually  considered  rather  as  fur- 
nishing the  materials  of  history  than  history  itself. 
Bat  it  is  just  this  absence  of  speculative  deductions 
and  of  any  endeavor  to  frame  the  general  laws  that 


THE   IMPORTA^^CE    OF   THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.      223 

control  particular  events  tliat  gives  tlie  book  its  chief 
Yalue.  It  is  in  no  sense  a  general  history  of  man- 
kind, and  indeed  touches  upon  the  world  at  large 
only  in  the  beginning  when  speaking  of  the  origin  of 
the  race,  or  toward  the  close  when  the  symbolic 
visions  of  Daniel  set  forth  the  revolutions  of  em- 
pires that  are  to  introduce  the  kingdom  that  shall 
have  no  end.  Kor  is  it  a  mere  secular  or  civil  his- 
tory of  certain  nations.  The  bulk  of  the  narra- 
tive is  taken  up  with  the  fortunes  of  the  Hebrews  as 
a  chosen  people,  the  possessors  of  the  only  true 
religion,  among  whom  the  church  of  the  living 
God  was  founded,  and  through  a  long  course  of 
ages  developed  under  local  and  ceremonial  restric- 
tions. The  chronicle  is  limited  to  the  record  of 
occurrences,  and  as  such  is  strictly  true.  This  in- 
deed has  often  been  denied,  but  without  reason.  For 
the  impartial  record,  telling  the  faults  as  well  as  the 
virtues  of  the  writers  and  of  the  race  to  which  they 
belong,  excludes  the  idea  of  wilful  perversion.  Men 
do  not  invent  what  brings  them  discredit.  But  the 
annals  are  peculiar  in  that  they  set  forth  the  dealings 
of  God  with  the  people  whom  He  chose  to  be  the  de- 
pository of  His  truth  and  the  means  of  its  preserva- 
tion until  the  fulness  of  time  came  for  its  world-wide 
diffusion.  There  is,  then,  a  copious  and  continuous 
illustration  of  the  principles  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment in  application  to  nations.  The  writers  indeed 
hardly  seem  conscious  of  this — at  least  they  never  stop 
to  make  any  reflections  of  that  kind.  But  all  the 
same  they  set  forth  the  facts  which  show  God's  hand 


224  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

in  history.  Yery  many  of  the  themes  which  occupy 
a  large  space  in  the  works  of  modern  writers — the 
arts,  manners,  institutions,  social  conditions,  litera- 
ture and  science — are  wholly  omitted,  but  the  relig- 
ious idea  is  never  absent.  For  the  people  were  under 
a  theocracy  ;  their  real  monarch  was  He  wdio  sat 
enthroned  above  the  cherubim.  And  everything 
turned  upon  their  relation  to  Him  and  their  fidelity 
to  that  relation.  Hence  the  simple,  artless  chronicle 
has  a  value  peculiarly  its  own,  as  representing  in. 
detail  and  on  a  very  small  scale  the  eternal  prin- 
ciples which  rule  the  world,  and  are  sure  to  work 
themselves  out  in  the  course  of  the  largest  empires 
in  any  part  of  the  earth. 

The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  biography,  the 
charming  and  instructive  literature  which  treats  of 
the  lives  of  particular  persons.  'No  nation  possessed 
of  any  degree  of  intellectual  culture  is  without  its 
treasures  of  this  kind,  but  all  of  them  together  of 
every  age  and  land  would  fail  to  supply  the  lack  of 
the  memoirs  contained  in  the  Old  Testament.  One 
reason  of  this  is  found  in  the  impartiahty  of  the 
record.  No  personal,  social,  national  prejudice  ever 
biasses  the  mind  of  the  writer.  He  never  stops  to 
commend  the  subject  of  which  he  treats,  or  to  apol- 
ogize for  what  certainly  needs  apology.  The  treat- 
ment is  like  colorless  glass  which  transmits  the  rays  it 
receives  without  imparting  to  them  a  shade  of  any 
kind.  It  does  not  make  any  difference  what  position 
a  man  holds,  or  how  much  he  may  have  been  hon- 
ored either  by  God  or  man,  or  to  what  extent  his 


THE   IMPORTANCE    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.      225 

good  name  is  identified  witli  that  of  his  people,  the 
evil  in  his  life  is  recorded  as  faithfully  as  the  good, 
and  without  any  attempt  at  extenuation.  Such  abso- 
lute fidelity  is,  or  at  least  seems  to  be,  an  impossibil- 
ity in  our  day.  Indeed,  the  tendency  in  the  other 
direction  has  been  so  strong  as  to  give  rise  to  the 
proverbial  expression,  the  lites  hiograjyhica.  But  in 
the  Hebrew  memoirs  one  is  brought  face  to  face  with 
actual  facts,  and  we  see  the  man  as  he  is,  not  as  his 
kindred  or  friends  or  countrymen  would  wish  him  to 
appear.  Both  sides  of  his  career  are  given  with 
equal  simplicity  and  fulness.  The  same  hand  which 
tells  of  the  patriarch  who  was  so  strong  in  faith  as  to 
be  ready  at  God's  command  to  offer  up  his  only  son, 
the  heir  of  the  promises,  tells  also  how  on  two  separate 
occasions,  through  a  mean  fear,  he  falsely  pretended 
that  his  wife  was  his  sister.  The  same  book  which 
describes  the  generosity  of  David  at  the  well  by  the 
gate  of  Bethlehem  when  the  three  heroes  broke 
through  the  garrison  and  drew  the  coveted  drink  for 
him,  recites  also  the  hideous  story  of  his  dealing  with 
Bathsheba  and  Uriah,  the  melancholy  record  of  un- 
cleanness  and  blood-shedding.  The  more  closely  the 
pages  of  these  records  are  studied,  the  more  evident 
it  becomes  that  the  reader  lias  before  him  the  veri- 
table man  himself  as  he  would  appear  to  Him  who 
searches  the  heart  and  tries  the  reins,  l^ot  only  are 
all  the  facts  that  are  given  true,  but  they  are  so 
given  as  to  produce  a  correct  impression,  a  point  in 
which  the  most  impartial  and  conscientious  of  merely 
human  biographers  arc  very  apt  to  fail. 


226  OLD    TESTAMENT   REVISIO-N". 

Its  numerons  and  varied  illustrations  of  the  doc- 
trine of  expiation  give  a  peculiar  value  to  the  Old 
Testament.  There  are  those  who  pronounce  the 
whole  Levitical  economy  as  inscrutable  as  the  Sphinx, 
a  mere  trial  of  faith  and  patience.  Yet  its  essential 
elements  are  plain  and  striking,  as  is  shown  by  the 
degree  in  which  the  language  used  in  describing 
them  has  entered  into  the  vocabulary  of  Christians 
and  formed  the  chosen  medium  for  the  expression  of 
their  experiences.  The  courts  of  the  tabernacle  and 
temple  streamed  incessantly  with  blood  and  the  air 
was  thick  with  the  smoke  of  incense.  The  fire  never 
went  out  upon  the  altar.  The  herd  and  the  flock 
and  the  birds  of  the  air  contributed  to  the  sacrifices 
which  were  offered  not  only  every  morning  and 
evening,  but  on  innumerable  other  occasions.  Con- 
fession of  sins  was  made  over  the  head  of  the  vic- 
tims, and  the  blood  was  sprinkled  upon  the  altar. 
The  whole  ritual  was  one  continuous  parable  of  sub- 
stitution. It  exhibited  by  means  of  a  complica^ted 
system  of  oblations  the  way  of  a  sinner's  acceptance 
with  God.  It  showed  in  type  and  shadow  what  was 
afterward  accomplished  in  real  and  abiding  efficacy. 
It  exhibited  on  the  outward  and  earthly  plane  what 
was  done  in  a  far  higher  sphere.  The  blood  of  bulls 
and  goats  was  intended  to  stand  in  marked  and  living 
contrast  with  the  blood  of  Him  who  was  a  Lamb 
without  spot,  tlie  Lamb  of  God  who  taketli  away  the 
sins  of  the  world.  The  wondrous  tragedy  on  Cal- 
vary, which  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  world's  his- 
tory, finds  its  best  illustration  in  the  Passover  sac- 


THE   IMPORTANCE    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.      227 

rifice  of  the  elder  economy,  or  in  its  twofold  offer- 
ing on  the  great  day  of  atonement.  One  entire  book 
of  the  New  Testament  is  mainly  occupied  with  the 
comparison  of  the  high -priest  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chizedek  and  his  work  with  the  Aaronic  priesthood 
and  its  unceasing  repetition  of  oblations  which 
never  could  purify  the  conscience  or  take  away  sin. 
To  understand  the  terras  of  this  comparison,  to  feel 
its  force  and  to  seize  the  momentous  underlying 
truth,  we  must  have  the  Old  Testament.  Its  explicit 
statements  are  of  more  worth  than  all  the  speculations 
ever  set  forth  even  by  the  most  acute  and  brilliant 
of  philosophical  theorists.  Its  ^'object  teaching" 
as  to  sin  and  redemption  is  a  prominent  factor  in  the 
experience  of  every  humble  believer.  There  are 
many  questions  about  the  system  which  he  cannot 
answer,  but  its  interior  essence,  its  characteristic 
feature,  has  become  the  life  blood  of  his  faith. 

Further,  the  Old  Testament  contains  the  liturgy 
of  the  universal  church.  The  hymns  of  the  New 
Covenant  are  very  few,  the  need  of  the  believer  in 
that  respect  having  been  already  supplied  by  the 
Psalter.  And  while  it  is  true  that  the  service  books 
of  the  ancient  church  contain  many  admirable  pro- 
ductions, they  do  not  come  up  to  the  majesty  and  the 
wide  compass  of  the  Hebrew  worship,  as  shown  in 
the  Psalms  of  adoration.  Neither  Ambrose  nor 
Gregory  reached  or  approached  this  level.  They 
tempered  the  boldness  of  the  originals,  but  their  ad- 
mixtures of  what  is  more  Christian-hke  and  spiritual 
toned  down  the  ardor  and  lessened  the  sweep  of  the 


228  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

singers  of  Israel.  "Nor  would  it  be  possible — it 
has  never  yet  seemed  so — to  Christianize  the  Hebrew 
anthems,  retaining  their  power,  their  earth-like  rich- 
ness and  their  manifold  splendors,  which  are  the  very 
splendors,  and  the  true  riches  and  the  grandeurs  of 
God's  world,  and  withal  attempered  with  expressions 
that  touch  to  the  quick  the  warmest  human  sympa- 
thies. .  .  .  As  to  the  powers  of  sacred  poetry, 
those  powers  were  expanded  to  the  full,  and  were 
quite  expended  too,  by  the  Hebrew  bards.  What 
are  modern  hymns  but  so  many  laborious  attempts 
to  put  in  a  new  form  that  which,  as  it  was  done  in 
the  very  best  manner  so  many  ages  ago,  can  never  be 
well  done  again,  otherwise  than  in  the  way  of  a  ver- 
bal repetition."  So  said  Isaac  Taylor  in  his  ''  Spirit 
of  Hebrew  Poetry"  (p.  157),  and  his  words  are 
true.  Nothing  in  all  literature  is  more  remarkable 
than  the  adaptation  of  the  Psalms  to  express  the  re- 
ligious wants  of  the  human  soul  in  every  age  and 
place.  The  lyrics  are  all  products  of  Hebrew  times 
and  the  Hebrew  people,  and  yet  they  are  found 
even  in  translation  to  do  what  nothing  else  does  for 
any  people  anywhere.  Joy  and  sorrow,  praise  and 
prayer,  confession  and  thanksgiving,  penitence  and 
faith,  hope  and  fear,  all  kinds,  all  degrees  of  human 
experience,  are  here  set  forth  in  a  way  that  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  The  most  acute  and  learned 
draw  inspiration  from  this  fountain,  and  the  young- 
est and  feeblest  find  the  same  words  comforting  and 
refreshing.  As  literature  the  Psalms  repay  the  most 
patient  and  prolonged  study  ;  but  as  records  of  the 


THE   IMPORTANCE   OF  THE   OLD  TESTAMENT.      229 

heart  under  the  impression  of  the  profoundest  spirit- 
ual truths  they  meet  a  response  from  multitudes  who 
have  no  ear  for  melody  and  no  eye  for  the  graces  of 
form.  As  Mr.  Carlyle  said,  "  David,  a  soul  inspired 
by  divine  music,  struck  tones  that  were  an  echo  of 
the  sphere-harmonies,  and  are  still  felt  to  be  such." 
In  view  of  this  fact  the  Old  Testament  as  containing 
the  Psalms  has  an  immeasurable  importance,  and  a 
revision  of  the  common  version  a  commensurate  in- 
terest. If  obscurities  are  removed,  if  the  sense  is 
more  faithfully  given,  if  poetical  jjeculiarities  are 
brought  out  more  distinctly,  Avhile  the  rhythm  and 
the  music  of  the  old  translators  are  preserved,  there 
is  a  very  great  gain  both  literary  and  devotional. 
The  experience  of  ages  shows  that  the  Psalter  will 
continue  to  be  the  model  of  prayer  and  praise  for  the 
hosts  of  the  redeemed,  and  whatever  helps  these 
hosts  to  use  it  more  intelligently  and  with  richer  en- 
joyment can  hardly  fail  to  be  a  lasting  blessing. 

In  support  of  what  has  been  said,  appeal  may  be 
made  to  the  usage  of  the  church  universal.  All 
churches  founded  upon  the  New  Testament  have 
acknowledged  the  perpetual  authority  of  the  Old  as 
an  integral  part  of  revelation.  The  erratic  views  of 
heretical  sects,  such  as  the  Marcionites  of  the  second 
century  and  the  Socinians  of  the  sixteenth,  or  of  in- 
dividual errorists,  have  never  even  in  the  darkest 
periods  obtained  general  currency,  but  rather  serve 
as  foils  to  set  forth  in  jDrominent  relief  the  signal 
unanimity  with  which  Papists  and  Protestants,  the 


230  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISIOiq-. 

Eastern  clmrch  and  tlie  Western,  have  clung  to  the 
Old  Testament  as  an  essenti'al  part  of  Scripture. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  experience  of  Christians 
in  all  ages,  as  bearing  testimony  on  this  interesting 
and  important  matter.  The  moral  and  spiritual  in- 
fluence exerted  by  the  Bible  on  the  characters  and 
lives  of  men  has  been  exerted  by  it  as  a  whole,  and 
not  by  the  New  Testament  alone.  Perhaps  it  may 
be  said  with  truth  that  in  proportion  to  the  depth 
and  power  of  experimental  piety  in  any  age  or  indi- 
vidual has  been  the  disposition  to  avoid  casting  lots 
upon  the  parts  of  revelation,  and  to  preserve  it  like 
the  Master's  tunic,  ''  without  seam,  woven  from  the 
top  throughout."  And  even  the  brilliant  but  erratic 
Ewald  said  in  his  last  published  work  {'^  Die  Lehre 
der  Bible  von  GoU.,'"  I.  §  141),  ''  The  truth  is,  the 
Old  Testament  contains  a  multitude  of  fundamental 
truths  in  such  certainty  and  completeness  that  they 
cannot  be  more  deeply  grounded  or  better  defended 
in  the  I^ew  Testament,  but  are  everywhere  presup- 
posed as  standing  firm  and  inviolate  since  the  old 
times." 

But  against  all  these  claims  in  behalf  of  the  Old 
Testament  it  is  sometimes  urged  that  its  morality  is 
defective,  that  it  represents  the  earlier  stages  in  the 
progress  of  ethical  ideas,  and  that  therefore  it  has 
been  wholly  supplanted  by  the  purer  and  more  ele- 
vated statements  of  the  Gospel.  In  support  of  this 
objection,  appeal  is  made  to  the  way  in  which  the 
Hebrews  obtained  possession  of  Canaan,  to  certain  of 
their  social  and  domestic  institutions,  and  to  gross 


THE   IMPORTANCE   OF  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.      231 

instances  of  wrong-doing  recorded  of  persons  recog- 
nized as  true  believers.  In  reply,  it  is  proper  to 
begin  with  the  assertion  that  the  ethical  rule  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  perfect,  absokitelj^  perfect.  It  is 
contained  in  the  Decalogue,  which,  after  laying  a 
firm  foundation  in  the  obligations  of  religion,  pro- 
ceeds to  build  npon  that  foundation  a  code  of  social 
ethics  which  never  has  been  or  can  be  surpassed, 
providing,  as  it  does,  for  all  relative  duties,  for  life, 
for  personal  purity,  for  property,  and  for  reputation, 
closing  and  riveting  the  whole  by  a  precept  which 
takes  in  the  heart.  The  'New  Testament,  so  far 
from  disowning  or  disparaging  this  rule  of  life,  con- 
firms and  sanctions  it  in  the  strongest  possible  man- 
ner. Our  Lord  said  expressly,  ^'  Think  not  that  I 
came  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets  :  I  came 
not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil  "  (Matt.  v.  11)— i.e.,  as 
His  further  statements  showed,  to  develop  its  deeper 
meaning,  to  guard  against  misconceptions,  to  remove 
false  glosses,  and  to  enable  its  subjects  to  keep  it. 
So  the  great  Apostle  said,  ^'  The  law  is  holy,  and  the 
commandment  holy,  and  righteous,  and  good " 
(Hom.  vii.  12).  Throughout  the  later  Scripture 
reference  is  continually  made  to  the  Ten  Command- 
ments as  the  permanent  and  authoritative  standard 
of  moral  obligation  (Matt.  xv.  4,  xix.  17-19  ;  John 
vii.  19  ;  Acts  vii.  38  ;  Eom.  xiii.  8-10  ;  Gal.  iii.  10  ; 
Eph.  vi.  2  ;  Heb.  ii.  2  ;  James  ii.  8-11  ;  iv.  11  ;  I. 
John  V.  2,  3).  Nothing  in  all  history— nothing  in 
the  flights  of  human  imagination  has  ever  exceeded 
the  circumstances  of  majesty  and  awe  amid  which  this 


232  OLD  TESTAMENT  REVISION. 

divine  code  was  announced  to  men.  It  was,  and  was 
intended  to  be,  a  complete  summation  of  human  duty. 
But  it  is  to  the  conduct  of  the  people  under  this 
law  that  the  impugners  of  the  Old  Testament  refer. 
One  of  the  most  common  objections  is  based  upon 
the  way  in  which  Israel  became  possessed  of  the  land 
of  Canaan — viz. ,  by  the  literal  extermination  of  its 
former  inhabitants,  a  procedure  which  is  denounced 
as  monstrous  and  inhuman.  But  it  is  to  be  said  (1) 
that  the  wholesale  destruction  was  the  same  that  fell 
upon  the  cities  of  the  plain  and  upon  the  world  at  the 
general  deluge,  a  destruction  which  in  each  case  was 
declared  to  be  the  punishment  of  great  and  manifold 
sins  y  (2)  that  it  was  inflicted  by  the  express  com- 
mand of  God  acting  as  the  moral  governor  of  the 
world  ;  and  (3)  that  it  was  necessary  in  order  that 
the  chosen  people  might  occupy  the  chosen  land. 
The  only  alternative  was  to  make  slaves  of  the  entire 
population.  But  this  would  have  been  ruinous  to 
Israel,  first  by  the  habits  of  sloth  and  self-indulgence 
which  such  a  condition  of  things  must  needs  have 
engendered,  and  then  still  more  by  the  close  and 
continual  contact  it  would  involve  with  a  population 
degraded  by  a  grossly  corrupt  religion  and  by  a 
bestial  immorality.  "Were  the  Hebrews  to  be  segre- 
gated from  other  races  in  some  one  particular  region, 
it  was  indispensable  that  the  previous  inhabitants  of 
that  region  should  be  removed.  And  dreadful  as  the 
destruction  of  the  Canaanites  was,  it  was  not  too 
high  a  price  to  pay  for  the  preservation  of  true  relig- 
ion in  the  earth. 


THE    IMPORTANCE    OF   THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.      2o'3 

Again,  it  is  affirmed  tliat  the  Old  Testament  in 
tlie  Zex  talionis  distinctly  recognized  the  right  of 
private  revenge,  and  made  every  man  the  avenger  of 
his  own  wrongs.  ^'  Thou  shalt  give  hfe  for  h'fe,  eye 
for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,"  etc.  (Ex.  xxi.  20),  is  inter- 
preted as  if  it  authorized  individual  retaliation.  But 
it  did  no  such  thing.  It  occurs  among  judicial  stat- 
utes, and  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  same  manner. 
In  fact,  it  simply  declared  the  penalty  of  injuries  wil- 
fully committed,  and  annoimced  to  all  that  whoever 
wronged  another  must  make  suitable  reparation  for 
the  wrong  unless  he  could  compound  matters  with 
the  injured  party,  which  w^as  allowed  in  every  case 
save  tliat  of  deliberate  murder  (Num.  xxxv.  31). 
The  execution  of  this  law — a  law  which  is  found 
in  the  XII.  Tables  of  Rome,  and  which  is  approved 
by  Montesquieu  as  founded  in  reason  and  drawn 
from  the  nature  of  things — was  committed  to  the  au- 
thorities. Our  Lord's  statement  in  Matt.  v.  38,  39 
does  not  set  aside  this  judicial  rule,  but  reproves  the 
errors  of  those  in  His  time  who  applied  in  private 
intercourse  and  for  personal  vindictiveness  what  was 
originally  given  only  for  the  public  administration  of 
justice. 

It  is  further  objected  that  the  Old  Testament  tol- 
erated polygamy  and  extra-judicial  divorce.  In  re- 
irard  to  the  latter  of  these  we  have  a  full  and  satisfac- 
tory  explanation  from  our  Lord.  He  points  back  to 
the  monogamy  established  in  Paradise  as  the  true  basis 
of  the  family  constitution,  and  one  that  was  never 
repealed.     But  in  the  case  of  Jews  the  statute  was 


234  OLD    TESTAMENT    REVISION. 

relaxed,  not  because  it  was  wrong,  but  because  of  the 
'Miardness  of  tlie  people's  hearts."  Woman  being 
the  weaker  vessel  was  sure  to  suffer  unless  some  pro- 
vision was  made  to  temper  and  restrain  the  fierceness 
of  men  of  coarse  nature  and  uncivilized  habits.  Di- 
vorce w^as  an  evil,  yet  when  made  under  the  forms 
of  law  it  was  better  than  the  continuous  grinding 
oppression  for  which  the  strict  seclusion  of  women  in 
the  East  allowed  unlimited  range. 

The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  polygamy.  This 
was  never  est'ablished,  much  less  praised,  as  it  is 
among  the  Mormons  of  our  day  as  a  useful  and 
blessed  institution.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  simply 
tolerated,  and  the  providence  of  God  showed  ^ery 
distinctly  in  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs  and  of  the 
parents  of  Samuel,  and  in  the  experience  of  David 
and  Solomon,  to  what  evils  it  necessarily  led.  Yet, 
upon  the  whole,  in  a  country  like  Palestine  and  in 
an  age  when  women  were  cut  off  from  all  the  social 
life  of  both  sexes,  it  was  doubtless  expedient  to  allow 
a  departure  from  the  law  laid  down  at  the  creation, 
and  permit  a  man  to  have  more  wives  than  one,  on 
the  ground  that  this  imperfect  arrangement  was  bet- 
ter than  general  and  promiscuous  concubinage,  and 
that  the  habit  being  so  deeply  rooted,  it  was  wiser 
to  regulate  and  control  it  than  to  meet  it  by  an  abso- 
lute prohibition  in  that  rudimentary  stage  of  human 
progress. 

Slavery  is  another  of  the  features  of  Old  Testa- 
ment life  that  are  severely  censured.  Involuntary 
servitude  belongs   to   an   inferior  civilization,   and, 


THE    IMPORTANCE    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMEXT.      235 

strange  as  it  seems,  marks  a  ste^)  in  its  npward  prog- 
ress. There  ^vas  a  time  when  all  captives  in  war 
were  slain  in  cold  blood,  but  afterward  they  were 
spared  and  put  in  bondage.  Hence  the  name  serva- 
tus  (preserved)  contracted  into  serviis  (slave).  As  a 
living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion,  so  it  was  better 
to  become  a  living  bondsman  than  to  be  a  slain  cap- 
tive. The  institution  existed  when  the  Jews  became 
a  nation.  They  retained  it,  but  greatly  modified  its 
severe  features.  A  native  slave  could  not  be  such 
longer  than  six  years,  except  by  his  own  consent 
formally  given,  and  in  any  event  his  servitude  ceased 
at  the  year  of  jubilee.  A  foreign-born  heathen  slave 
might  be  kept  in  perpetual  bondage,  but  a  bondage 
unlike  any  that  ever  existed  in  any  part  of  the  an- 
cient world.  He  never  was  regarded  as  a  tool,  a 
chattel,  a  thing  without  any  rights.  Nothing  ap- 
proaching to  the  language,  even  of  such  men  as  Plato 
or  Aristotle  on  this  subject^  is  to  be  found  anywhere 
in  Scripture.  The  slave  had  the  benefit  of  the 
weekly  day  of  rest  and  of  all  the  joyful  public  and 
private  festivals  of  the  Mosaic  economy.  Express 
mention  is  made  of  the  ^'  manservant  and  the  maid- 
servant" in  the  Fourth  Commandment,  and  also  in 
the  directions  about  the  domestic  feasts  made  upon 
the  tithes  and  offerings  (Deut.  xii.  18).  The  slave 
was  a  person,  and  as  such  had  his  rights  protected 
under  the  law.  Above  all,  he  was  among  a  people 
who  enjoyed  the  revelation  of  the  being  and  will  of 
the  one  living  and  true  God,  infinite  in  holiness  and 
mercy  as  well  as  in  wisdom  and  might.     ''  Jehovah, 


23G  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

Jeliovah,  a  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffer- 
ing, and  abundant  in  kindness  and  truth."  It  was 
better  to  be  a  serf  or  bond-servant  in  Israel  than  a 
man  of  wealth  and  station  in  heathen  darkness,  just 
as  the  devout  Psalmist  preferred  rather  to  be  a  door- 
keeper in  the  house  of  God  than  to  dwell  at  ease  in 
the  tents  of  wickedness.  Slavery  was  not  proliibited, 
because  the  times  were  not  ripe  for  such  prohibi- 
tion. A  wise  lawgiver  ahvays  adapts  his  legislation 
to  the  character  and  circumstances  of  the  people. 
Even  Christianity  did  not  direct  the  immediate  over- 
throw of  the  system,  but  contented  itself  with  an- 
nouncing the  principles  and  inculcating  the  duties 
wdiich  were  sure  in  the  end  to  break  every  shackle 
and  yet  create  no  social  convulsion.  The  feudal  sys- 
tem which  once  prevailed  over  Europe  was  in  some 
respects  as  oppressive  as  slavery,  yet  its  bonds  were 
gradually  relaxed  in  the  same  way,  until  now  it  has 
become  a  mere  name.  There  seems  little  reason  to 
doubt  that  the  permission  and  regulation  of  slavery 
under  the  Old  Economy  was  not  only  wiser,  but 
humaner  than  its  absolute  prohibition  would  have 
been.  It  certainly  did  not  proceed  from  harshness 
or  indifference  to  human  welfare.  For  the  Mosaic 
code  forbade  hatred  and  revenge  (Lev.  xix.  17,  18), 
enjoined  kindness  even  to  enemies  (Ex.  xxiii.  4,  5), 
commanded  respect  toward  the  deaf,  the  blind,  and 
the  aged  (Lev.  xix.  14,  32),  and  required  tender  care 
for  the  poor,  the  widow,  the  fatherless,  and  the 
stranger  (Ex.  xxii.  21-27  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  17,  19).  For 
these  the  corners  of  the  field  must  remain  unreaped, 


THE   IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.      237 

and  tlie  forgotten  slieaf  must  be  left  where  it  had 
fallen.  Ev^en  animals  shared  in  the  compassion  of 
the  Hebrew  lawgiver  (Dent.  xxii.  5,  7  ;  xxv.  4). 
Such  tender  consideration  for  the  weak  and  helpless, 
incorporated  into  the  legal  system  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, indicates  high  morality  and  a  very  profound 
sentiment.  Where  is  the  advance  upon  these  points 
which  some  tell  us  is  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ?  That  Testament  contains  nothing  new  either 
in  form  or  in  spirit. 

It  is  further  urged  that  the  Old  Testament  con- 
tains numerous  instances  of  gross  wrong-doing,  the 
perpetrators  of  which  were  yet  regarded  and  treated 
as  acceptable  with  God  and  made  recipients  of  His 
favor.  These  are  the  falsehoods  of  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  those  of  Rahab  and  Jael,  the  horrible 
sacrifice  of  Jephthah's  daughter,  the  deplorable  mis- 
deeds of  Samson,  and  the  crimes  of  David,  the  man 
after  God's  own  heart.  In  regard  to  all  these  the 
truth  must  be  held  fast  that  sins  are  sins,  whoever 
commits  them.  The  Old  Testament  never  blurs 
moral  distinctions,  much  less  should  we.  A  man's 
eminence  or  advantages  rather  enhances  than  lessens 
the  criminality  of  his  evil  deeds.  Take,  for  exam- 
ple, the  most  common  of  the  offences  already  re- 
ferred to — falsehood.  The  most  of  the  lies  that  are 
told  come  through  fear.  A  lie  is  the  habitual  refuge 
of  a  coward.  But  who  ought  to  be  less  of  a  coward 
than  the  man  who  believes  in  the  Living  God  and 
regards  Him  as  his  friend  ?  The  lies  of  the  patri- 
archs are  grievous  blots  upon  their  good  name.     But 


238  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

they  are  not  condoned  in  the  Scripture,  but  simply 
recorded  as  integral  parts  of  the  history,  and  as  sol- 
emn admonitions  to  every  reader.  In  Jacob's  case 
Ills  subsequent  experience  indicates  a  very  salutary 
dealing  of  Providence  with  him.  A  long  and  pain- 
ful exile  from  home  and  the  suffering  of  many  de- 
ceptions from  his  father-in-law  were  a  righteous 
retribution  for  the  gross  deceit  by  which  he  won  the 
blessing  from  the  aged  Isaac. 

Rahab  is  quoted  and  commended  both  by  James 
and  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  but  it 
is  her  faith,  not  her  falseliood,  that  is  praised.  She 
believed  in  Jehovah  and  in  Israel  as  His  covenant  peo- 
ple, and  for  their  sake  was  willing  to  surrender  home 
and  friends  and  country.  So  she  welcomed  and 
preserved  the  spies,  and  sent  them  home  ^^  another 
way"  (James  ii.  25),  and  in  so  far  was  conspicuous 
for  well-doing.  But  her  deliberate  falsehood  was  a 
remnant  of  her  heathen  training,  for  which  no  jDallia- 
tion  is  given  or  is  possible.  Born  and  brought  up 
in  an  atmosphere  of  deceit,  it  doubtless  seemed  to 
her  a  very  natural  thing  to  lie  in  a  good  cause.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Jael.  It  was  a  good  thing  in 
her  to  drive  the  tent-pin  through  the  temples  of  the 
sleeping  Sisera.  In  so  doing  she  executed  a  proper 
retribution  upon  an  enemy  of  the  Lord,  she  took 
sides  with  the  covenant  people,  and  did  what  lay  in 
her  pov/er  to  render  their  victory  complete  and  per- 
manent. For  this  she  received  the  highly-wrought 
encomium  of  Deborah,  and  was  pronounced  "  blessed 
above   women,"    or,    as   some    render    the   phrase, 


THE    IMPORTANCE    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.      239 

"  blessed  by  women."  But  lier  treachery  in  invit- 
ing Sisera  into  her  tent,  and  her  assurance  to  him  of 
safety,  were  detestable.  These  gross  violations  of 
truth  detract  much  from  her  character,  and  yet  leave 
the  signal  service  she  rendered  to  Israel  unimpaired 
as  an  act  of  heroic  fidelity  to  the  side  of  right.  She 
took  a  wrong  way  to  do  a  right  thing,  and  the  sing- 
ers of  the  triumph  overlook  her  deceit  and  her  breach 
of  hospitality  in  their  hatred  of  the  licentious  and 
cruel  tyrant  and  their  warm  sympathy  with  their 
country  rescued  from  idolatry  and  degradation. 

The  case  of  Jephthah  is  different.  He  is  com- 
mended as  a  hero  of  faith,  and  such  he  was  in  taking 
command  of  the  people  at  a  perilous  period,  in  his 
wise  conduct  of  the  war  and  in  his  triumphant  vic- 
tory. The  one  stain  upon  him  is  the  sacrifice  of  his 
only  child.  He  vowed  to  God  that  in  case  of  victory 
he  would  '^  offer  up  for  a  burnt  offering"  whatsoever 
came  forth  from  his  house  to  meet  him  on  his  return. 
His  daughter  came  forth,  and  ''  he  did  with  her  ac- 
cording to  his  vow."  Some  have  praised  him  for 
his  self-renunciation  in  keeping  his  vow.  All  such 
praise  is  nearly  as  odious  as  Jephthah' s  course.  His 
deed  was  an  immorality,  and  denounced  as  such  in 
the  law.  The  vow  itself  was  wrong,  for  no  man  has- 
a  right  to  take  upon  himself  such  an  uncertain  obli- 
gation ;  but  the  performance  of  it  was  worse,  for  it 
degraded  the  offerer  of  the  victim  to  a  level  with 
those  Canaanites  whom  his  ancestors  had  driven  out 
of  existence  with  fire  and  sword.  Jeplithah  had  been 
living  as  a  free  lance  on  the  frontiers  of  the  country 


240  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

amid  demoralizing  associations,  and  this  fact,  while 
it  accounts  for  his  crude  notion  that  any  circum- 
stances could  make  it  right  to  do  wrong,  also  sets  in 
a  hrighter  light  his  wise  and  determined  and  success- 
ful leadership  of  his  countrymen  against  the  national 
foe. 

Samson's  case  is  similar.  He  was  a  combination 
of  superhuman  physical  strength  with  uncommon 
moral  weakness.  God  saw  fit  to  employ  him  as  a 
deliverer  of  His  people,  just  as  centuries  afterward 
He  commissioned  the  weak,  bigoted,  and  petulant 
Jonah.  In  general,  the  channels  of  divine  energy  are 
appropriate  to  their  office,  and  clean  men  bear  the 
vessels  of  the  Lord  ;  but  there  are  exceptions  for  wise 
purposes,  one  of  which  may  be  to  vindicate  or  illus- 
trate the  divine  sovereignty.  But  whatever  the  rea- 
sons, it  is  certain  that  God  endowed  with  miraculous 
might  a  man  who  never  could  resist  the  solicitations 
of  a  woman,  but  did  in  reality  the  shameful  things 
fable  records  of  Hercules  with  Omphale.  His  ex- 
ploits in  battle  when,  single-handed,  he  contended 
with  hundreds  and  thousands,  were  signal  expres- 
sions of  his  faith  in  God,  and  the  same  is  true  of  his 
death  at  Gaza.  That  death  was  no  more  suicide  than 
that  of  any  soldier  who  leads  or  takes  part  in  a  for- 
lorn hope.  He  performed  an  act  of  retributive 
vengeance  upon  the  national  foes,  and  the  sacrifice  of 
his  own  life,  which  it  required,  was  freely  made,  and 
stands  evermore  as  a  testimony  of  his  self-renouncing 
fidelity.  Much  of  his  life  had  been  wasted,  but 
what  was  left  of  it  he  dedicated  to  God.     Having 


THE    IMPOllTAJq-CE    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.      241 

been  restored  once  more  to  his  gigantic  strength,  bj 
one  supreme  effort  lie  pulled  down  the  temple  and 
carried  a  host  of  his  oppressors  into  a  common  grave, 
lie  asked  and  he  received  divine  help,  and  justly  is 
his  feat  celebrated  as  an  act  of  faith,  as  well  as  of 
strength. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  all  these  cases  belong  to 
an  early  stage  in  the  application  of  moral  principle? 
to  practical  life.  This  does  not  mean  rhat  tliere  was 
a  progress  in  ethical  ideas,  just  as  there  was  a  progress 
in  doctrine  all  through  the  old  economy.  There  was 
no  such  ethical  progress,  and  no  room  for  it.  This 
is  shown  not  only  by  the  Decalogue,  which  was  cer- 
tainly given  from  Sinai,  and  the  many  admirable 
provisions  of  the  enactments  acccompanying  it,  but 
also  by  the  fact  that  the  cardinal  principles  of  morals 
have  always  and  everywhere  been  the  same.  False- 
hood, fraud,  slander,  envy,  theft,  breach  of  trust  and 
murder,  are  not  more  peremptorily  forbidden  by 
Scripture  than  they  are  by  the  common  judgment  of 
civilized  nations,  ancient  and  modern.  No  revela- 
tion was  needed  to  tell  men  that  these  things  were 
wrong.  In  the  last  century  one  of  the  Moravians 
who  labored  among  the  aborigines  of  our  country 
said  to  a  Mohegan  chief,  ^'  You  must  not  lie,  nor 
steal,  nor  get  drunk,"  etc.,  and  received  the  indig- 
nant answer,  ^'  Thou  fool,  dost  thou  think  that  we 
do  not  know  that  ?"  "  The  superiority  of  Christian 
ethics  lies  mainly  in  the  example  it  furnishes  and  the 

*  Loskiel's  "History'' of  Moravian  Missions  in  North  America." 


24.2  OLD    TESTAMENT   REYISIO:!^. 

motives  it  offers,  and  only  to  a  small  extent  in  the 
precepts  it  enjoins,  as,  e.g.^  in  relation  to  the  obliga- 
tions of  tlie  sexes.  Our  Saviour's  object  in  a  large 
part  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Monnt  is  not  to  correct 
the  morality  of  the  law,  but  to  set  aside  the  corrupt 
glosses  which  the  degenerate  Jews  had  fastened 
upon  it.  Take  away  these  incrustations,  and  the 
moral  code  of  Sinai  shines  out  as  conspicuously  pure 
and  elevated  as  the  utterances  of  our  Lord.  The 
Master  did  indeed  a  wonderful  thing  when  He  con- 
densed the  Ten  Commandments  into  two,  the  love  of 
God  as  supreme  and  the  love  of  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves, but  nowhere  and  at  no  time  did  He  set  aside 
or  impeach  any  one  of  the  ten  words  uttered  from 
the  blazing  summit  of  Jebel  Mousa.  On  the  con- 
trary, when  the  young  ruler  asked  the  weighty  ques- 
tion, ''  What  shall  I  do  that  I  may  have  eternal 
life  ?"  the  answer  came  promptly,  ^'  If  thou  wouldest 
enter  into  life,  keep  the  commandments"  (Matt. 
xix.  IT),  ^o  rational  explanation  of  this  utterance 
can  be  made  which  will  not  imply  that  those  com- 
mandments cover  the  whole  sphere  of  human  duty. 

But  while  all  this  is  true,  it  is  also  true  that  the 
ethical  principles  lying  at  the  basis  of  the  Mosaic 
economy  were  not  at  once  taken  up  into  the  hearts 
of  the  people  and  incorporated  with  their  lives.  It 
required  time  to  bring  about  this  result,  just  as  it  did 
in  some  other  things.  For  example,  idol  worship 
was  always  condemned  among  the  Hebrews.  Yet 
when  Jacob  left  Padan-Aram  Hachel  stole  and  car- 
ried off  her  father's  terapliim   (household   deities) 


THE  importa:n"ce  of  the  old  testament.    243 

(Gen.  xxxi.  34)  ;  wlicn  the  patriarch  himself  went 
from  Shechem  to  Bethel  he  needed  to  tell  his  fam- 
ily, "  Put  away  the  strange  gods  that  are  among 
you"  (Gen.  xxxv.  2)  ;  and  as  far  down  as  Saul's  days 
we  find  that  when  Michal  wished  to  deceive  her 
father's  messengers  by  pretending  that  David  was 
sick,  she  used  teraphim  to  represent  the  appearance 
of  his  form  in  the  bed,  thus  show^ing  that  these  idol- 
atrous images  had  a  place  even  in  this  good  man's 
dw^elling.  So  in  the  days  of  Israel's  imperfect  civil- 
ization, when  there  was  more  or  less  of  the  moral 
chaos  that  always  accompanies  sudden  changes,  so- 
cial revolutions,  alternations  of  war  and  peace,  of 
conquest  and  defeat,  the  development  of  character 
was  not  uniform  ;  excellencies  in  one  direction  were 
overbalanced  by  deficiencies  in  another  ;  and  even 
those  who  in  the  main  were  upright  according  to  the 
divine  standard,  yet  occasionally  fell  short  in  the 
hour  of  trial.  A  capital  illustratiou  may  be  drawn 
from  the  experience  of  modern  Christian  missions. 
One  of  the  evangelical  denominations  of  our  country 
has  in  the  extreme  East  two  thousand  members  in 
full  communion,  and  eight  thousand  persons  known 
as  "adherents."  Recently  two  of  the  wisest  and 
most  experienced  of  the  missionaries  laboring  there 
were  asked  how  many  of  these  adherents  they  sup- 
posed to  be  really  converted  persons.  The  answer 
was,  "  !N"early  all  of  them."  Whereupon  the  ques- 
tion arose  why,  that  being  the  case,  they  were  not 
received  into  the  fellowshij)  of  the  church  and  ac- 
knowledged as  brethren  in  the  Lord.     The  reason 


244  OLD  TESTAMENT   REVISION". 

given  was,  that  they  retained  so  much  of  their  old 
heathen  habits  and  tendencies,  and  their  stabihty 
under  the  23ressure  of  temptation  was  so  imperfect, 
that  there  was  reason  to  fear  a  relapse  into  some 
gross  immorahtj  that  would  bring  great  discredit 
upon  the  Christian  name.  Hence  they  were  retained 
so  long  in  this  inchoate  disciplinary  status.  Pre- 
cisely this  was  the  condition  of  many  of  the  Old 
Testament  worthies.  The  standard  of  duty  was  as 
high  as  it  ever  has  been  ;  witness  the  command  given 
as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Abraham,  ^^  Walk  before 
me,  and  be  thou  perfect"  (Gen.  xvii.  1),  and  often- 
times there  was  a  wondrous  exhibition  of  moral  ex- 
cellence ;  witness  him  who  walked' with  God  so 
closely  and  continuously  that  he  was  translated  with- 
out seeing  death,  or  Samuel,  the  early  called,  who,  at 
the  close  of  a  long  public  life,  was  able  to  challenge  a 
whole  people  to  make  good  any  charge  of  wrong- 
doing ;  but  still,  as  a  general  fact,  true  believers  had 
not  grown  up  to  their  privileges,  and  often  fell  into 
that  which  was  clearly  and  sometimes  grossly  amiss. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BRITISH  AND  AMERICAN. 

The  following  list  includes  all  who  accepted  the 
invitation  to  become  members  of  the  Revision  Com- 
mittee, and  at  any  time  took  part  in  the  work.  The 
dignitaries  of  the  Chnrch  of  England  are  mentioned 
first,  and  after  them  the  other  members  in  alphabeti- 
cal order.  To  this  list,  which  has  been  drawn  from 
Schaff's  '^  Companion  to  the  Greek  Testament  and 
the  English  Version,"  the  author  has  appended  such 
details  of  personal  history  as  he  has  been  able  to 
obtain. 

The   British   Company. 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Chairman. 
William  Aldis  Wright,  Secretary. 

Right  Rev.  Edward  Harold  Browne,  D.D., Bish- 
op of  Winchester,  formerly  of  Ely,  Farnham  Castle, 
Surrey.  Born  at  Morton  House,  Bucks,  in  1811. 
He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge.  Author 
of  an  '*  Exposition  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles," 
Sermons  on  the  Atonement,  the  Pentateuch  in  reply 
to   Colenso,  ]^otes   on    Genesis  in   the  ^'Speaker's 


246  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEVISION. 

Commentary,"  and  articles   in   Smith's  Bible  Dic- 
tionary. 

Right  Rev.  Lord  Arthur  Charles  Hervey,  D.D., 
Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  Palace,  Wells,  Somerset. 
Born  August  20,  1808.  Educated  at  Eton  and  Cam- 
bridge. Author  of  the  Genealogies  of  our  Saviour  ; 
the  Inspiration  of  Scripture,  Notes  on  Judges,  Ruth 
and  Samuel  in  the  '*  Speaker's  Commentary,"  besides 
various  single  sermons  and  charges,  and  articles  in 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 

Right  Rev.  Alfred  Ollivant,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
Llandaff,  Bishop's  Court,  Llandaff.  Born  in  Man- 
chester in  1798.  Died  December  16,  1882.  For- 
merly Yice-Principal  of  St.  David's  College.  Regius 
Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cambridge. 

Right  Rev.  Connop  Thirlwall,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
St.  David's,  Bath.  Born  February  11,  1797,  at 
Stepney,  Middlesex.  Died  July  27,  1875.  Edu- 
cated at  the  Charter  House  and  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.  Rector  in  Yorkshire  1828.  Bishop  of 
St.  David's  1840.  Joint  translator  with  Julius  Hare 
of  Niebuhr's  History  of  Rome.  Author  of  a  His- 
tory of  Greece,  first  published  in  Lardner's  Cabinet 
Cyclopaedia,  afterward  separately. 

Right  Rev.  Christopher  Wordsworth,  D.D., 
Bishop  of  Lincoln.  Born  in  1807  at  Ashby,  Nor- 
folk.    Died  March  20,  1883.     Resigned  his  position 


THE   KAMES   OF   THE   REVISERS.  247 

on  tlie  Committee  of  Ee vision  in  1870.  Educated  at 
Winchester  and  Cambridge.  Author  of  Lectures  on 
Inspiration,  Memoirs  of  Wordsworth,  Greece,  His- 
torical and  Descriptive,  Greek  Testament  witli  Notes, 
Commentary  on  the  Enghsh  Bible,  Y  vols.,  new  edi- 
tion, 1872,  and  numerous  other  w^ritings. 

Yery  Rev.  John  James  Stewart  Perowne,  D.D., 
Dean  of  Peterborough  Deanery,  Peterborough.  Born 
March  13,  1823,  at  Burdwan,  Bengal.  Educated  at 
Korwich  and  Cambridge.  Author  of  an  acute  and 
learned  work  on  the  Psalms,  Hulsean  Lectures  on 
Immortality,  Articles  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary, 
and  various  other  writings. 

Very  Eev.  Edward  Hates  Plumptree,  D.D., 
Dean  of  Wells,  Wells.  Born  August  6, 1821.  Ee- 
signed  from  the  Committee  in  1874.  Double  first- 
class  at  Oxford  in  1811:.  Author  of  Boyle  Lectures 
for  1866,  Biblical  Studies,  Exposition  of  Epistles  to 
the  Seven  Churches,  Notes  on  Proverbs  in  '^  Speaker's 
Commentary,"  Notes  on  First  Three  Gospels  in  Elli- 
cott's  Commentary,  Exposition  of  Ecclesiastes,  Spirits 
in  Prison  and  other  Studies  on  the  Life  after  Death, 
articles  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  etc.,  etc. 

Yery  Eev.  Eobert  Payne  Smith,  D.D.,  Dean  of 
Canterbury,  Deanery,  Canterbury.  Born  Novem- 
ber, 1818,  in  Gloucestershire.  Educated  at  Pem- 
broke College,  Oxford.  Author  of  Messianic  In- 
terpretation  of  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  Bampton 
Lectures  for  1869,  Notes  on  Jeremiah  in  '^  Speaker's 


248  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

Commentary,"  several  translations  from  the  Syriac, 
and  a  Sjriac  Lexicon,  based  upon  Castelli,  five  parts 
of  whicli  have  been  published. 

Yen.  Benjamin  Hakrison,  M.A.,  Archdeacon  of 
Maidstone,  with  Canonry  in  Canterbury  Cathedral 
annexed.  Precincts,  Canterbury.  Born  about  1809. 
Educated  privately  and  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
where  he  obtained  Kennicott  Hebrew  Scholarship  in 
1831,  and  the  Pusey  and  Ellerton  Hebrew  Scholar- 
ship in  1832.  Author  of  Prophetic  Outlines  of  the 
Christian  Church,  the  Anti-Christian  Powers  as 
traced  in  the  Visions  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  (War- 
burtonian  Lectures),  and  numerous  charges  and  ser- 
mons. Editor  of  Bishop  Broughton's  Sermons  on 
the  Church  of  England. 

Yen.  Henry  John  Pose,  Archdeacon  of  Bedford. 
Born  in  1801.  Died  January  1,  1873.  Author  of 
a  History  of  the  Christian  Church  from  1700  to 
1858.  Editor  of  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitana  (2d 
ed.),  Hulsean  Lecturer  in  1833,  Notes  on  Daniel  in 
the  ''Speaker's  Commentary,"  etc. 

Pev.  William  Lindsay  Alexander,  D.D.,  Profes- 
sor of  Theology,  Congregational  Church  Hall,  Edin- 
burgh. Born  at  Edinburgh  August  21,  1808.  Died 
there  December  22, 1881.  Author  of  the  Connection 
and  Harmony  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  Christ 
and  Christianity,  St.  Paul  at  Athens,  etc. ;  contribu- 
tor to  the  Encylopsedia  Britannica,  and  editor  of  the 
third  edition  of  Kitto's  Biblical  Cyclopaedia. 


THE   NAMES   OF  THE    llEVISERS.  349 

Egbert  Lubbock  Bensly,  Esq.,  Follow  and  Ilobvow 
Lecturer,  Gouville  and  Caius  Colleg-e,  Cambridge. 
Tjrwliitt's  Scholar,  1857.  Examiner  in  Hebrew 
text.  Old  Testament,  and  Greek  text,  New  Testa- 
ment, in  the  University  of  London, 

Kev.  John  Birrell,  Professor  of  Oriental  Lan- 
guages, St.  Andrews,  Scotland. 

Frank  Chance,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Burloigh  House,  Sy- 
denham Hill,  London. 

Thomas  Chenery,  Esq.  Born  in  Barbadoes,  1826. 
Died  in  London,  February  11,  18SL  Educated  at 
Eton  and  Cambridge,  became  the  Times  correspond- 
ent at  Constantinople,  an  adept  in  Hebrew,  Arabic, 
.  Persian  and  Turkish  (said  to  have  known  the  Hebrew 
Bible  and  the  Koran  by  heart),  translator  of  "  The 
Assemblies  of  El-Hariri,"  and  editor  Naachheroth 
Ithiel.  Successor  of  Mr.  Delane  as  editor  of  the 
London  Tirries^  1876. 

Pev.  Thomas  Kelley  Cheyne,  D.D.,  Late  Fellow 
and  Hebrew  Lecturer  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford, 
Rector  of  Tendring,  Essex.  Author  of  the  Book 
of  Isaiah  Chronologically  Arranged,  of  the  Proph- 
ecies of  Isaiah,  a  new  translation,  with  Connnentary 
and  Appendices  (3d  ed.,  1881:),  and  of  a  new  version 
of  the  Book  of  Psalms. 

Rev.  Andrew  Bruce  Davidson,  D.D.,  Professor 
of  Hebrew,  Free  Church  College,  Edinburgh.     Au- 


250  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISI0:N-. 

thor  of  an  Introductory  Hebrew  Grammar,  Com- 
mentary on  Job,  Yol.  I.,  1862,  Hebrews  in  Hand- 
books for  Bible  Classes,  1882,  Job  in  Cambridge 
Bible  for  Schools,  1884. 

Kev.  Benjamin  Dayies,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Baptist 
College,  London.  Born  February  26,  1814,  near 
Llanboidy,  Pembrokeshire.  Died  July  19,  1875. 
Educated  at  Baptist  College,  Bristol,  Univ^ersity  of 
Glasgow,  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  in  Germany. 
Received  degree  of  Ph.D.  from  Leipzig.  Author 
of  a  Compendious  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Lexicon. 
Translator  of  Bodiger^s  edition  of  Gesenius's  He- 
brew Grammar,  Joshua  to  Malachi  in  Revised  Eng- 
lish Bible,  1877. 

Rev.  George  C.  M.  Douglas,  D.D.,  Professor  of 
Hebrew  and  Principal  of  Free  Church  College,  Glas- 
gow. Author  of  Why  I  Still  BeHeve  that  Moses 
Wrote  Deuteronomy,  the  Book  of  Judges  in  Hand- 
books for  Bible  Classes,  The  Book  of  Joshua  in 
Handbooks  for  Bible  Classes. 

Samuel  Rolles  Driver,  Esq. ,  Regius  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  Oxford.  Author  of  a  valuable  work  on  the 
Hebrew  Tenses  (2d  ed.,  1881),  and  The  63d  Chapter 
of  Isaiah  according  to  the  Jewish  Interpreters,  2  vols. 

Rev.  Charles  John  Elliott,  Winkfield  Yicarage, 
Windsor.  B.A.  St.  Catharine's  College,  Cambridge, 
1840.  Tyrwhitt  University  Scholar  1842.  Joint 
author  of  Notes  on  the  Psalms  in  the  "  Speaker's 


THE    NAMES   OF  THE   REVISERS.  251 

Commentary."      Author   of   a   Yisitation    Sermon, 
1847,  and  of  other  single  discourses. 

Kev.  Patrick  Fairbarn,  D.D.,  Principal  of  the 
Free  Church  College,  Glasgow.  Born  January,  1805, 
in  Berwickshire,  Scotland.  Died  at  Glasgow,  Au- 
gust 6,  1874.  Author  of  various  works  on  Typology, 
Prophecy,  and  Hermeneutics,  and  of  Expositions  of 
Ezekiel,  and  of  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  and  editor  of 
the  Imperial  Bible  Dictionary. 

Rev.  Frederick  Field,  D.D.,  Carlton  Terrace, 
Heigham,  Norwich.  Born  in  London  in  1801.  Edu- 
cated at  Christ's  Hospital  and  Cambridge  ;  Fellow 
of  Trinity  College  ;  afterward  Rector  of  Reephani, 
E'orfolk.  Edited  the  Greek  text  of  Chrysostom's 
Commentaries  on  Matthew,  and  of  his  Interpreta- 
tion of  the  Pauline  Epistles,  The  Septuagint  accord- 
ing to  the  Alexandrian  Codex,  and  also  Origen's 
Hexapla.     Author  of  Otium  Norvicense. 

Rev.  John  Dury  Geden,  Professor  of  Hebrew, 
"Wesleyan  College,  Didsbury,  Manchester.  Born 
May  4,  1822,  at  Hastings. 

Rev.  Christian  D.  Ginsburg,  LL.D.,  Holmlea, 
Virginia  Water,  Chertsey.  Born  in  Poland  about 
1825.  Formerly  connected  with  the  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Christianity  among  the  Jews,  and  their 
missionary  at  Paris.  Author  of  Coheleth  or  Ec- 
clesiastes,  the  Song  of  Songs,  the  Essenes,  the  Kab- 


252  OLD   TESTAMEN^T   REVISION". 

balah,  Massorath  Ha  Massoreth,  Jacob  ben  Chajim's 
Introduction  to  Bomberg's  Bible,  the  Moabite  Stone, 
and  the  Massorah,  compiled  from  manuscripts  alpha- 
betically and  lexically  arranged. 

Rev.  Feederick  William  Gotch,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Principal  of  the  Baptist  College,  Bristol.  Author  of 
the  Pentateuch  in  Revised  English  Bible,  London, 

18TT. 

Rev.  John  Jebb,  Canon  of  Hereford.  Born  in 
Dublin  in  1805.  Educated  at  Winchester  and  at  Trin- 
ity College,  Dublin.  Author  of  "  A  New  Transla- 
tion of  the  Book  of  Psalms,  with  Dissertations," 
*'  The  Divine  Economy  of  the  Church,"  etc. 

Rev.  William  Kay,  D.D.,  Great  Leghs'  Rectory, 
Chelmsford.  Late  scholar  of  Lincoln  College,  Ox- 
ford. First  Class,  Lit.  Hum.,  1839.  Fellow  of  Lin- 
coln 1840-66.  Principal  of  Bishop's  College,  Cal- 
cutta, 1849-55.  Author  of  Essays  on  the  Promise 
of  Christianity,  Crisis  Hupfeldiana,  the  Psalms  Trans- 
lated from  the  Hebrew,  with  Kotes,  Notes  on  Isaiah 
and  on  Hebrews  in  "  Speaker's  Commentary,"  Notes 
on  Ezekiel  in  S.  P.  C.  K.'s  Commentary. 

Rev.  Stanley  Leathes,  D.D.,  Professor  of  He- 
brew, King's  College,  London.  Born  March  21,  1830, 
at  Ellesborough,  Bucks.  Educated  at  Jesus  College, 
Cambridge.  Author  of  '^  The  Witness  of  the  Old 
Testament  to  Christ,"  a  Hebrew  Grammar,  the  Gos- 


THE   Is^AMES   OF   THE   KEVISERS.  253 

pel   its  own  Witness,  tlie   Keligion    of   the    Christ, 
Studies  in  Genesis,  etc.,  etc. 

Kev.  Joseph  Rawson  Lumby,  Norrisian  Professor 
of  Div^initj,  Cambridge.  Born  at  Stanningley,  York- 
shire, about  1830.  Educated  at  Leeds  Grammar 
School  and  Magdalen  College,  Cambridge.  Edited 
several  works  for  the  Early  Englisli  Text  Society  and 
the  Pitt  Press.  Author  of  a  History  of  the  Creeds, 
and  the  notes  on  Phihppians  and  Philemon  in 
Schaffs  International  Commentary  on  the  Kew 
Testament.  A  contributor  to  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica  (9th  ed.),  the  Expositor ,  and  other  peri- 
odicals. 

Professor  McGill.     Died  March  16,  1871. 

Rev.  Archibald  Henry  Sayce,  Deputy  Professor 
of  Comparative  Philology,  Oxford.  Born  at  Shire- 
hampton,  near  Bristol,  September  25,  181:6.  Edu- 
cated partly  at  home  and  partly  at  Grosvenor  Col- 
lege, Bath.  Became  scholar  of  Queen's  College, 
Oxford,  in  1865,  and  a  Fellow  of  the  same  in  1869. 
Author  of  Outlines  of  Accadian  Grammar,  an  As- 
syrian Grammar,  Babylonian  Literature,  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Science  of  Language,  Ancient  Empires  of 
the  East,  etc.,  etc. 

Rev.  William  Selwyn,  D.D.,  Canon  of  Ely. 
Born  1806.  Died  April  21,  1875,  Educated  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  Lady  Margaret  Reader  in  Theology  there. 


254  OLD   TESTAMENT   llEVISIOIT. 

Author   of   Horse  Hebraicse,  Critical  Notes  on  the 
Septiiagint,  Thouglits  on  Cathedral  Reform. 

Rev.  "William  Robertson  Smith,  LL.D.,  Lord  Al- 
moner's Professor  of  Arabic,  Cambridge,  formerly 
of  the  Free  Church  College,  Aberdeen.  Born  at 
Keig,  Aberdeenshire,  J^ovember  8,  1846.  Edu- 
cated privately,  and  then  at  Aberdeen  University, 
the  J^ew  College,  Edinburgh,  and  the  Universities 
of  Bonn  and.  Gottingen.  A  brilliant  and  versatile 
scholar,  now  associated  with  Prof.  Baynes  in  editing 
the  Encyclopsedia  Britannica.  Author  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  and  the  Prophets 
of  Israel,  and  their  Place  in  History  to  the  close  of 
the  Eighth  Century, 

William  WriCtHT,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Arabic, 
Cambridge.  Born  in  Presidency  of  Bengal,  India, 
January  17,  1830.  Educated  at  St.  Andrews,  Fife, 
and  Halle,  Prussia.  Author  of  a  Grammar  of  the 
Arabic  Language,  and  editor  of  numerous  Syriac  and 
Arabic  texts.  He  catalogued  the  Syriac  and  Ethiopic 
jVlSS.  in  the  British  Museum. 

William  Aldis  Wright,  M.  A.,  LL.D.,  Fellow  and 
Senior  Bursar  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  Born 
about  1836.  Educated  at  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, and  made  librarian  there.  Chief  contributor 
in  biblical  geography  and  biography  to  Smith's 
Bible  Dictionary.  Editor  of  Bacon's  Essays  and 
Advancement  of  Learning,  with  notes  and  glossarial 


TUE    JSTAMES   OF   THE    REVISERS.  255 

indexes.  Co-editor  with  "W.  G.  Clark  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Shakespeare  (9  vols.)  and  the  Globe  Shake- 
speare (1  vol.).  Author  of  the  Bible  Word-Book 
(2ded.,  1884). 

American    Company. 

William  Henry  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 
George  Edward  Day,   D.D.,  Secretary. 

Eev.  Charles  Augustus  Aiken,  Ph.D.,  D.D., 
Archibald  Alexander  Professor  of  Oriental  and  Old 
Testament  Literature  and  Christian  Ethics  in  the 
Theological  Seminary,  Princeton,  K.  J.  Born  Octo- 
ber 30,  1827,  in  Manchester,  Yt.  Graduated  at 
Dartmouth  College  1846  ;  at  Andover  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  1849-53,  including  a  year  and  a  half 
at  Berlin  and  Halle.  Pastor  at  Yarmouth,  Mass., 
1854.  Professor  of  Latin  at  Dartmouth  1859  ;  same 
at  Princeton  1866.  President  of  Union  College 
1869.  Professor  of  Apologetics  and  Christian  Ethics, 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  1871  ;  of  Oriental 
and  Old  Testament  Literature  and  Christian  Ethics 
at  same  18S2.  Translator  and  editor  of  Proverbs  in 
Dr.  SchafE's  edition  of  Lange's  Commentary,  and  con- 
tributor to  many  of  the  theological  reviews. 

Rev.  Talbot  Wilson  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  one  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Collegiate  Dutch  Church  in  the  city 
of  ISTew  York.  Born  in  Carlisle,  Pa.,  February  25, 
1819.     Graduated   at   Rutgers   College,    N.    J.,  in 


256  OLD   TESTAMENT    REVISION". 

1834  ;  partial  course  in  Theological  seminaries  of 
New  Brunswick  and  Princeton.  Licensed  to  preach 
in  1838.  Settled  over  Second  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  Somerville,  N.  J.,  1839.  Removed  to  New 
York  in  1849.  Author  of  Noon  Prayer-Meeting, 
Life  of  Frelinghujsen,  The  Psalter  a  Witness  for 
the  Divine  Origin  of  the  Scriptures,  Notes  on  Zecha- 
riah  in  Schaff's  edition  of  Lange's  Commentary. 

Rev.  Thomas  Jefferson  CoNANT,  D.D.,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.  Born  in  Brandon,  Yt.,  December  13,  1802. 
Graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  Yt.,  in  1823; 
continued  there  in  a  post-graduate  course  two  years, 
given  to  Hebrew,  Greek  and  German.  Tutor  in 
Columbian  College,  Washington,  D.  C,  in  1825. 
Professor  of  Languages  in  Waterville  College  (now 
Colby  University),  Maine,  in  1827  ;  that  year 
ordained  as  an  evangelist.  Professor  of  Languages 
and  Biblical  Literature  in  Hamilton  Literary  and 
Theological  Institution  (now  Madison  University  and 
Theological  Seminary),  at  Hamilton,  Madison  Co., 
N.  Y.,  in  1835.  Professor  of  the  Hebrew  Lan- 
guage and  Biblical  Exegesis  in  Rochester  Theological 
Seminary,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  1851.  This  post 
Dr.  Conant  resigned  in  1857  to  accept  a  commission 
from  the  '^  American  Bible  Union"  to  revise  the 
English  Yersion  of  the  Bible  for  that  society.  After 
long  service  in  this  work  he  made  a  contract  with 
Ebenezer  Morgan  to  continue  the  revision  on  Mr. 
Morgan's  account.  Author  of  a  translation  of  Ge- 
senius's     Hebrew    Grammar,  Revised   Yersion    of 


THE   KAMES   OF  THE    REVISERS.  257 

Book  of  efob,  with  introduction  and  notes,  and  also 
of  Proverbs  (some  editions  contain  both  the  He- 
brew and  the  Enghsh) ;  Revised  Version  of  Gen- 
esis, with  introduction  and  notes,  and  the  same  of 
the  Book  of  Psahus,  each  in  IvoL,  8vo  ;  Propliecies 
of  Isaiah,  i.-x,  4,  a  revised  version,  with  exphma- 
tions  for  English  readers,  and  critical  notes  on  the 
Hebrew  text,  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  Greek  text, 
common  version  and  revised  version  in  parallel  col- 
umns (1  vol.  4to) ;  Revised  English  Version  of  the 
Old  Testament,  in  8v^o,  12mo,  and  16mo  ;  Baptizein, 
its  meaning  and  use  philologicallj  and  historically  in- 
vestigated ;  Revised  Version  of  the  Historical  Books 
of  the  Old  Testament,  from  Joshua  to  Second  Kings, 
with  introduction  and  occasional  notes. 

Rev.  George  Edward  Day,  D.D.,  Professor  of 
the  Hebrew  Language  and  Biblical  Theology  in  the 
Divinity  School  of  Yale  College,  J^ew  Haven,  Conn. 
Born  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  March  19,  1815.  Was 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1833,  and  in  the 
Yale  Divinity  School  in  1838,  where  he  was  assistant 
instructor  in  Sacred  Literature  1838-40.  Pastor  of 
First  Church  in  Marlborough,  Mass.,  and  the  Ed- 
wards Church  in  Northampton,  1840-51.  Professor 
of  Biblical  Literature  in  Lane  Theological  Seminary, 
Cincinnati,  O.,  1851-66;  Professor  of  the  Hebrew 
Language  and  Biblical  Theology  in  the  Divinity 
School  of  Yale  College  since  1 866.  Translated,  with 
additions.  Van  Oosterzee  on  Titus  for  Dr.  Schafi's 
edition  of  Lange's  Commentary.    Edited,  with  notes, 


258  OLD   TESTAMENT   KEYISIOiq'. 

the    American    issue   of   Oehler's    '^  Biblical   The- 
ology." 

Eev.  John  De  Witt,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hellen- 
istic Greek  and  New  Testament  Exegesis  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch) 
Church,  I^ew  Brunswick.  Bom  November  29,  1821, 
in  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  Graduated  at  Rutgers  Col- 
lege, 1838,  and  at  the  Theological  Seminary,  New 
Brunswick,  1842.  Pastor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
churches  at  Ridgeway,  1842-44  ;  at  Ghent,  1845-48  ; 
at  Canajoharie,  1848-49  ;  at  Millstone,  N.  J.,  1850- 
63.  Professor  of  Oriental  Literature  at  New  Bnms- 
wick,  1803-84  ;  Professor  of  Hellenistic  Greek  and 
New  Testam.ent  Exegesis,  1884.  Author  of  the  Sure 
Foundation  and  How  to  Build  on  It,  and  'the  Praise 
Songs  of  Israel,  a  new  rendering  of  the  Book  of 
Psalms. 

Rev.  William  Heney  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Oriental  and  Old  Testament  Literature  in 
the  Theological  Seminary,  Princeton,  N.  J.  Born 
at  Grovevilie,  N.  J,,  January  27,  1825.  Graduated 
at  La  Fayette  College,  Pa.,  1840.  Tutor  there 
1840-42.  Graduated  at  Princeton  Theological  Sem- 
inary 1846.  Supply  of  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Princeton,  1847-49.  Pastor  of  Central  Presbyterian 
Church,  Philadelphia,  1849-51.  Professor  Biblical 
and  Oriental  Literature,  Princeton  Seminary,  1851- 
69,  and  of  Oriental  and  Old  Testament  Literature 
1859.     Author  of  Grammar  of  Hebrew  Language, 


THE   NAMES   OF  THE   REVISERS.  259 

Hebrew  Chrestomatlij,  the  Pentateucli  Vindicated, 
Elementary  Hebrew  Grammar,  The  Argument  of 
the  Book  of  Job,  Moses  and  the  Prophets.  Trans- 
lator and  editor  of  Song  of  Solomon  in  Schaffs  edi- 
tion of  Lange's  Commentary. 

Rev.  George  Emlen  Hare,  D.  D.  ,  Professor  of  Bib- 
lical Learning  in  the  Divinity  School,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  Born  in  Philadelphia,  Sej^tember  4,  1808.  Grad- 
uated at  Union  College,  N.  Y.,  in  1826.  Became 
Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  in  1830  ; 
Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Princeton,  ]^.  J.,  in  1834. 
Rector  of  St.  Matthew's  Church,  Philadelphia,  in 
1845  ;  finally  Professor  of  Biblical  Learning  in  the 
Philadelphia  Divinity  School  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  1862. 

Rev.  Charles  PoRTERriELDKRArTH,D.D.,LL.D., 

Yice-Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia,  and  Professor  of  Theology  and  Church 
History  in  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Theological 
Seminary  in  Philadelphia.  Born  March  17  in  Mar- 
tinsburg,  Ya.  Died  January  2,  1883,  in  Philadel- 
phia. Graduated  in  1839  at  Pennsylvania  College, 
Gettysburg.  Studied  theology  with  Drs.  Schmucker 
and  Schmidt.  Ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  a 
church  in  Baltimore  in  1842.  Subsequently  held 
the  same  office  in  Winchester,  Ya.,  and  Pittsburg, 
Pa.  In  1859  called  to  St.  Mark's  Lutheran  Church, 
in  Philadelphia.  In  1864  became  Professor  of 
Theology  and  Church  History   in   the   Theological 


260  OLD  TESTAMENT   REVISIOif. 

Seminary,  then  newly  established  in  Philadelphia 
by  the  Lutheran  body.  In  1868  elected  to  the 
chair  of  Moral  and  Intellectual  Philoso]3hy  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  five  years  later 
made  Vice-Provost.  Author  of  the  Conserva- 
tive Reformation  and  its  Theology,  a  Transla- 
tion of  Tholuck's  Commentary  on  the  Gospel  of 
John,  an  Enlargement  of  Fleming's  Yocabulary 
of  Philosophy,  a  new  edition  of  Berkeley's  Phil- 
osophical Writings,  and  various  minor  treatises 
touching  questions  in  theology  and  Church  his- 
tory. 

Taylee  Lewis,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Greek  and 
Oriental  Languages  in  Union  College,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.  Born  March  27,  1802,  in  Northumberland, 
N.  Y.  Died  May  11,  1877,  in  Schenectady.  He 
was  prepared  for  college  by  Dr.  Proudfoot,  of  Salem. 
Graduated  from  Union  College  in  1820.  Studied 
law,  and  commenced  practice  at  Fort  Miller  in  1824. 
Became  Principal  of  Waterford  Academy  in  1833. 
Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  the  University  of 
the  City  of  ^ew  York  in  1838.  Professor  of  Greek 
in  Union  College  in  1849,  and  afterward  of  Oriental 
Languages  and  Biblical  Literature.  Author  of  Plato 
contra  Atheos,  the  Six  Days  of  Creation,  the  Bible 
and  Science,  the  Divine-Human  in  the  Scriptures, 
Notes  on  Genesis  and  Job  and  Ecclesiastes  in  Schaif  *s 
edition  of  Lange's  Commentary,  Yedder  Lecture,  the 
Light  by  which  we  see  Light,  and  innumerable  minor 
articles  in  reviews  and  periodicals. 


THE   KAMES   OF   THE   REVISERS.  261 

Kev.  Charles  Marsh  Mead,  Ph.D. ,  D.D. ,  former- 
ly Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Theological  Seminary, 
Andover,  Mass.  Born  January  28,  1836,  at  Corn- 
wall, Yt.  Graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  Yt., 
1856.  Teacher  in  Phillips  Academy  1856-58.  Tutor 
at  Middlebury  1859-60.  Graduated  at  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  1862.  Studied  at  Halle  and 
Berlin  1863-66.  Made  Ph.D.  at  Tiibingen  1866; 
same  year  appointed  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  An- 
dover. Resigned  the  professorship  in  1882.  Since 
then  a  resident  of  Bonn,  of  Leipzig,  and  now  of  Ber- 
lin. Translator  and  editor  of  the  Book  of  Exodus 
in  Schaff's  edition  of  Lange's  Commentary.  Author 
of  ''  The  Soul  Here  and  Hereafter, "  and  of  numer- 
ous articles  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  and  other  reviews. 

Pev.  Howard  Osgood,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  at  Pochester,  N.  Y. 
Born  January  4,  1831,  in  the  parish  of  Plaquemines, 
La.  Graduated  at  Harvard  College  1850.  Ordained 
1856.  Pastor  at  Flushing,  L.  I.,  1856-58,  and  in 
New  York  1860-65.  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Crozier 
Theological  Seminary,  Crozier,  Pa.,  1868-74,  and  at 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary  1875.  Author  of 
'^  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Newer  School  of  Criticism" 
in  Baptist  Review^  January,  1883,  "  Prehistoric 
Commerce  of  Israel,"  ib.,  April,  1885.  Translator 
of  Pierret's  Dogma  of  the  Resurrection  among  the 
Ancient  Egyptians,  Hebrew  Student,  February,  1885. 

Rev.  Joseph  Packard,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Biblical 


262  OLD   TESTAMENT   REYISION. 

Learning  in  tlie  Protestant  Episcopal  Seminary  of 
the  Diocese  of  Yirginia,  Alexandria,  Ya.  Born  De- 
cember 23,  1812,  in  Wiscasset,  Maine.  Graduated 
at  Bowdoin  College  in  1831.  Two  years  later  entered 
the  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  "While  there  ap- 
pointed a  professor  in  Bristol  College,  Pa.,  now  ex- 
tinct. Admitted  to  deacon's  orders  by  Bishop  Gris- 
wold  in  1836.  The  same  year  elected  professor  in 
the  seminary  at  Alexandria,  Ya.  Author  of  the  Ex- 
position of  Malachi  in  Dr.  Schaff's  edition  of  Lange's 
Commentary. 

Kev.  Calvin  Ellis  Stowe,D.D.,  Hartford,  Conn., 
formerly  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  Andover  Theolog- 
ical Seminary.  Born  April  26,  1802,  at  l^atick, 
Mass.  Graduated  at  Bowdoin  College  1821:,  and  at 
Andover  Seminary  1828.  Assistant  Professor  of 
Sacred  Literature  at  Andover  1828-30.  Professor 
of  Languages  at  Dartmouth  College  1830-33.  Pro- 
fessor of  Biblical  Literature  in  Lane  Seminary 
1833-50,  and  of  Natural  and  Kevealed  Keligion  in 
Bowdoin  College  1850-52.  Professor  of  Sacred 
Literature  in  Andover  Seminary  1852-61.  Author 
of  a  translation  of  Jahn's  Hebrew  Commonwealth,  a 
new  edition,  with  notes,  of  Lowth's  Hebrew  Poetry, 
Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Europe,  Intro- 
duction to  the  Criticism  and  Interpretation  of  the 
Bible,  the  Origin  and  History  of  the  Books  of  the 
Bible,  besides  many  contributions  to  religious  period- 
icals. Dr.  Stowe  resigned  from  the  Revision  Com- 
mittee in  1876. 


THE   NAMES   OF   THE   REVISERS.  263 

James  Strong,  S.T.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Ex- 
egetical  Theology  in  the  Drew  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Madison,  N".  J.  Born  August  14,  1822,  in 
New  York.  Graduated  at  Wesleyan  University, 
Middletown,  Conn.,  184-4:.  Teacher  of  Ancient  Lan- 
guages in  Troy  Conference  Academy,  West  Poult- 
ney,  Yt.,  1 844-46.  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature 
and  Acting  President  of  Troy  University  1858-61. 
Professor  of  Exegetical  Theology  in  Drew  Seminary. 
Author  of  Epitomes  of  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Clialdee 
Grammar  ;  Analysis  of  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans 
and  to  the  Hebrews,  and  of  the  Apocalypse  ;  Trans- 
lation of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  ;  Exposition  of  the 
Song  of  Solomon  ;  a  volume  of  Lectures,  entitled 
Irenics  ;  portions  of  the  translation  and  notes  on 
Esther  and  Daniel  in  Dr.  Schaff's  edition  of  Lange's 
Commentary  ;  joint  editor  with  Dr.  John  McClin- 
tock,  and  after  his  death  sole  editor,  of  a  Cyclopaedia 
of  Biblical,  Theological,  and  Ecclesiastical  Literature 
(10  vols.  8vo,  and  1  supplementary),  and  a  contrib- 
utor to  various  periodicals. 

Cornelius  Y.  A.  Yan  Dyck,  M.D.,  D.D.,  Profes- 
sor in  the  American  College  at  Beirut,  Syria.  Born 
at  Kinderhook,  E.  Y.,  August  IS,  1818.  Studied 
the  classics  at  the  Kinderhook  Academy  ;  studied 
medicine  with  his  father,  H.  L.  Yan  Dyck,  M.D., 
and  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  PhiLadelphia. 
Went  to  Syria  as  missionary  physician  1840.  Soon 
became  a  proficient  in  Arabic,  and  took  charge  of  a 
seminary  at  Abieh,  on  Mount  Lebanon.     Ordained 


264  OLD   TESTAMENT   REVISION. 

TO  tlie  ministry  by  liis  associates,  and  gave  himself  to 
missionary  work.  He  was  associated  with  Dr.  Eli 
Smith  in  the  preparation  of  an  Arabic  version  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  the  Pentateuch  was  barely  completed 
when  Dr.  Smith  died.  Then  Dr.  Yan  Dyck  alone 
carried  on  the  enterprise  to  completion,  and  the  re- 
sult is  an  accurate  and  elegant  version,  equal  in  style 
to  the  Koran,  and  acceptable  to  cultivated  speakers 
of  Arabic  everywhere.  He  spent  two  years  in 
New  York  in  superintending  the  publication  of  this 
great  work.  Since  its  completion  he  has  been  mainly 
employed  in  professorial  work  in  the  American  Col- 
lege and  in  the  preparation  of  text-books  in  Arabic 
for  the  use  of  the  students.  Dr.  Yan  Dyck  could 
not  attend  the  meetings  of  the  company,  but  was 
often  consulted  by  letter,  and  the  notes  he  transmit- 
ted on  particular  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
highly  valued  and  very  useful. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


[The  Scriptures  referred  to  do  not  include  those  which  occur  in  Biblical 
order  in  chapters  iv.— viii.] 


Abbot,  Dr.  Ezra,  his  qualities  as  a 
critic,  52. 

Abraham,  226,  228,  245. 

Adam,  the  city,  97;  the  man,  160. 

Aiken,  Dr.  C.  A.,  255. 

Alexander,  Dr.  William  Lindsay,  248. 

American  Committee  appointment, 
43  ;  mode  of  action,  50,  51 ;  har- 
mony, 9  ;  their  Appendix,  167  sq.; 
list  of  members,  255  sq. 

Aqnila's  Greek  version  of  O.  T.,  72, 

Archaisms,  172. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  on  translation,  138 
{note) ;  on  the  name  Jehovah,  170 
{note). 

Asherim,  85,  102, 

Assyriology,  28. 

Auspices  of  the  revision,  39,  40. 

Authorized  Version,  its  defects,  19 
sq.,  28  sq.,  132, 158  ;  its  excellence, 
16sq.,  46,  57,  110. 

"  Azazel,"  86, 176, 

Amos  iii.  2,  p.  81. 

Acts  ii.  47,  p.  42. 

B. 

Bath  and  Wells,  Bishop  of,  246. 
Belial,  92,  174. 
Bensley,  Robert  L.,  249. 
Bentley,  53. 


Biography  in  the  O.  T.,  225. 

Birrell,  Prof.  John,  249. 

Bissell,  Prof.,  on  correctness  of  the 
O.  T.  text,  63. 

Bomberg's  Hebrew  Bible,  67. 

Sorrow's  Bible  in  Spain  quoted,  222. 

"  Boy"  applied  to  slaves,  183. 

Briggs,  Prof.  C.  A.,  on  textual  revi- 
sion, 76 ;  on  Hebrew  poetry,  79 
{note). 

Brooks,  Eev.  Dr.  Phillips,  quoted,  4. 


Cardinal  ethical  precepts,  the  same 

everywhere,  242 ;  perfectly  given  in 

the  O.  T.,  232. 
Carlyle,  T.,  on  David's  Psalms,  230. 
Casaubon   on    conjectural    readings, 

75. 
Cartography  of  Palestine,  27. 
Catholic  character  of  the  revision,  41. 
Chambers,  T.  W.,  256. 
Chance,  Frank,  249. 
Chapter  divisions  of  the  A.  V.,  16,  17. 
Chenery,  Thomas,  249. 
Cheyne,  Rev,    Thomas   Kelley,    138, 

249. 
Church  of  England,  39,  40. 
Conjectural  readings,  65,  73  sq. 
Convocation  of  Canterbury,  39. 
''Cor,"  107. 


266 


ALPHABETICAL   li^DEX. 


"  Corn,"  British  use  of  the  word,  44. 

Cyrus,  143. 

II.  Cor.  vi.  15,  p.  174. 


David,  226,  230,  235,  238,  244. 
Davidson,  Prof.  Andrew  Bruce,  249. 
Davidson,  Dr.  Samuel,  on  the  various 

readings  of  the  O.  T.,  68. 
Davies,  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin,  250. 
Day,  Dr.  George  E.,  257  ;  quoted,  14, 

220. 
Decalogue,  perfect,  232 ;  upheld    by 

our  Lord,  232,  243. 
Deliberate  action  of  the  revisers,  49. 
Denmark,  Bible  revision  in,  7. 
"  Devils,"  105. 
De  Witt,  Prof.  John,  258. 
Divorce  in  the  O.  T.,  234. 
Dillman,  Prof.,  on  Hebrew  codices,  69. 
Douglas,  Principal  George  C.  M.,  250. 
Driver,  Prof.  Samuel  R.,  250. 
Deut.  sii.  18,  p.  2;36. 

"    xxii.  5,  7,  p.  238. 

"   xxiv.  17,  19,  p.  238. 

"     XXV.  4,  p.  238. 

E. 

Egyptology,  28. 

El  Arish,  90. 

El  Shaddai,  169. 

Elohim,  meaning  of,  170,  179. 

Ephrem  the  Syrian,  73. 

Errors  in  translation,  list  of,  29,  30. 

EsSiif(ih,^\. 

Euphemisms,   103,   143,   151,  175,  177, 
185,  191,  207,  212. 

Ewald  on  the  Old  Testament,  231. 

Expiation  in  the  O.  T.,  228. 

Extermination  of  the  Canaauites,  rea- 
sons for,  233. 

Exodus  xxi.  20,  p.  234. 

xxii.  21-27,  p.  237. 
"      xxiii.  4,  5,  p.  237. 

F. 
Faber  on  the  English  Bible,  46. 
Fourth  Commandment,  35,  236. 
France,  Bible  revision  in,  8. 


Gadites,  104. 

Genesis,  division  of  chapters  in,  22. 

Germany,  Bible  revision  in,  9. 

"  Giblites,"  102. 

Giusburg,  Rev.  Dr.,  64,  66,  251. 

Gotch,  Dr.  F.  W.,  250. 

Green,  Prof.  W.  H.,  33,  258. 

H. 

Halstead's  version  of  Job,  31. 

Harrison,  Archdeacon,  248. 

Hare,  Prof.  G.  E.,  259. 

Hebraisms,  32,  152,  153,  163,  182,  189, 
197,  202,  217. 

Herder  referred  to,  79  ;  on  the  O.  T., 
22:. 

Hell  not  a  proper  rendering  of  Sheol, 
172. 

Herem,  92. 

Hercules,  241. 

History  in  the  O.  T.,  223. 

Holland.  Bible  revision  in,  13 ;  Staaten 
Bybel  of,  16. 

Home,  Bishop,  quoted,  10. 

Hozai,  106. 

Human  sacrifices  in  Canaan,  92  ;  for- 
bidden by  Mosaic  code,  240. 

Huxley,  Prof.,  on  English  Bible,  47. 

"Hypocrite,"  28,  112. 

Habakkuk  iii.  3,  4,  p.  31. 

Hebrews  ii.  7,  p.  120. 

I. 

Idol  worship    among   the    Hebrews, 

243. 
International  feature  of  the  revision, 

43. 
Isaac  Taj^lor  on  the  Psalms,  229. 
Isaiah,  division  of  chapters  in,  23. 
"      vii.  16,  p.  32. 
ix.    3,  p.  64. 
"     xiii.    3,  p.  32. 
"     xix.  10,  p.  31. 


Jacob,  239,  243. 
Jael,  239. 


J. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


267 


Jahveb,  1G9. 
Jebb,  Cauon  John,  250. 
Jehovah,  120,  1G8  sq. 
Jephthah,  240. 
Jerome,  25,  65. 
Job,  division  of  chapters  in, 
Jonathan  beu  Uzicl,  70. 
Judges  xiii.  3,  p.  32. 
XV.  19,  p.  32. 
Job  xxvi.  5,  p.  31. 
John  i.  41,  p.  157. 
James  ii.  25,  p.  239. 


Kay,  Dr.  William,  253. 

Kennicott,  69. 

"  Kcri,"  64,  69,  126, 143. 

"  Kethib,"  64,  160. 

Kindness  of  the  Mosaic  code,  237. 

Koran,  The,  101. 

Kraulh,Prof.  C.  P.,  259. 


Llandafi,  Bishop  of,  246. 
Leathes,  Prof.  Stanley,  252. 
Lewis,  Prof.  Tayler,  260. 
Lex  talionis,  234, 

Lituro:y  of  the  Old  Testament,  228. 
Lincoln,  Bishop  of,  246. 
Lowth,  Bishop,  37,  75. 
Loskiel,    History  of  Moravian   mis- 
sions, 242. 
Lumby,  Prof.  J.  R.,  253. 
Lying,  its  evil  nature,  238. 
Lev.  xix.  14,  17,  18,  32,  p.  237. 
Luke,  xxiii.  31,  p.  94. 

M. 

Marsh.Hon.  George  P.,  on  revision,  32. 
Marsh,    Dr.    James,    translation    of 

Herder,  222, 
Massorah,  its  nature,  62  sq. 
Massoretic  text  adhered  to,  193, 194, 

216. 
Meat  offering,  28. 
Method  of  the  revision,  50. 


Messiah,  165 ;    word  excluded    from 
the  revision,  150 ;    restored  to  the 
margin  by  the  Appendix,  215. 
Mead,  Prof.  Charles  M.,  260. 
Michal,  her  teraphim,  244. 
Midrash,  105. 
Missionaries  awaiting    the  revision, 

49. 
Missionary  "  adhere".ts,"  their  char- 
acter, 244. 
McGill,  Prof.,  253. 
Montesquieu  on  Lex  folionis,  234. 
Moravian  missionary  rebuked,  242. 
Malachi  iii.  13-18,  p.  111. 
Matthew  v.  17,  p.  232. 

v.  38,  39,  p.  234. 
"      vi.  25,  31,  34,  p.  181. 
••    xix.  17,  p.  243. 
"    xix.  18,  p.  84. 

N. 
Name,  the,  87, 171. 
Negeb  (or  South),  81,  153. 
Newcome,  Archbishop,  37. 
Nephelim,  88. 

Norway,  Bible  revision  in,  8. 
Noyes,  Dr.  George  R.,  37. 
Numbers  xxxv.  11,  12,  15,  p.  47. 

XXXV.  31,  p.  234. 
Nehemiah  viii.  8,  p.  56,  70. 


Obsolete  words,  list  of,  19  sq.,  173, 196. 

Oehler,  Bib.  Theol.  quoted,  219. 

Old  Testament  unduly  exalted,  218; 
reaction  concerning,  218,  219 ;  need- 
ed to  understand  the  New,  220  sq. ; 
its  value  recognized  by  universal 
church,  230. 

Onkelos,  Targum  of,  70. 

Osgood,  Prof.  Howard,  on  the  Jews' 
fidelity,  66  ;  personal  details  of, 
261. 

Osterwald's  French  version,  8. 


Packard,  Prof.  Joseph,  261. 
Parallelisms,  24,  79,  135,  199. 


268 


ALPHABETICAL   IIS^DEX. 


Parie,  Polyglot,  25. 

Peabody,  Eev.  Dr.  A.  P.,  on  Ezra  Ab- 
bot, 52. 
Perowne,  Dean,  247. 
"  People  "  for  "  peoples,"  82. 
Persian  words,  105,  106,  107. 
Peshitto  version,  19,  73. 
Pliimptre,  Dean,  247. 
Pliny  on  nature,  quoted  by  Hengsten- 

berg,  221  (note). 
Poetry  in  Hebrew  history,  78  sq.;  of 
Job.,  110;  of  Canticles,  131;  of  the 
Prophets,  135. 
Pope's  Universal  Prayer,  170. 
Psalter,  divisions  of,  120  ;  hard  to  re- 
vise,  119  ;    superscriptions  in,  36  ; 
harvest  lyric,  124  ;  missionary,  125  ; 
adapted  to  all  ages,  229. 
Psalm      iv.  1,  p.  32. 
ix.  17,  p.  172. 
X.  4,  p.  33. 
"       xvi.  2,  p.  31. 
"       xix.  3,  p.  33. 
"    xxiii.  1,  2,  p.  58. 
"     xlvii.  8,  p.  32. 
"     Ixvii.  6,  p.  31. 
"   Ixxiii.  p.  Ill, 
"       ciii.  2,  p.  153  (note). 

K. 

Rahab,  239. 

Rachel  stole  the  teraphim,  243. 

Re-revision  unlikely,  51. 

Revelation,  the  Bible  is  such,  34,  50. 

Reverence  needed  for  a  translator,  52. 

Resurrection  intimated,  114,  142, 

Ritual  of  the  O.  T.,  its  use,  227. 

Ritschl  on  conjectural  readings,  75. 

Rose,  Archdeacon,  248. 

Rules  of  Committee  on  revision,  45. 

Rev.  vii.  17,  p.  182. 

S. 

Samuel,  his  purity,  245. 
Samson,  241  sq. 
"Satrap,"  107. 
Sayce,  Prof.  A.  H.,  253. 


Schaff,  Dr.  Philip,  on  the  church  of 
England,  40  (note) ;  his  Companion 
to  the  Greek  Testament,  246. 

Schleiermacher,  218. 

Schultens,  his  Arabic  scholarship,  26. 

Segond,  Prof.  Louis,  his  version  of 
the  Bible,  9. 

Selvvyn,  Canon  William,  253. 

Sepoy  rebellion,  illustration  from, 
138. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount,  234,  243. 

SheOl,  113,  121,  123,  171  sq. 

Septuagint,  24eq.;  its  origin,  71;  no 
critical  edition  of,  74, 

Simplicity  of  style  needed  for  a  ver- 
sion, 56, 

Smith,  Dean,  R.  Payne,  247. 

Smith,  Prof.  W,  Robertson,  138,  254. 

Song  of  Solomon,  Purity  of,  131. 

Slavery  in  Hebrew  times,  235  sq. 

St,  David's,  Bishop  of,  246. 

Stowe,  Dr,  C,  E.,  262. 

Strack,  Prof.  H.  L.,67,  69. 

Symmachus,  his  version  of  the  O.  T., 
72. 

Syriac  Peshitto,  25,  73. 


Talmudists,  65,  67. 

Targums,  70,  71. 

Temple,  Bishop,  on  the  authority  Of 

Scripture,  54. 
Tenses  in  Hebrew,  25. 
Teraphim  in  Hebrew  households,  243, 

244. 
Theodotion,  his  version  of  the  O.  T., 

72. 
Tischendorf  on  textual   sourcea   of 

the  N.  T.,  61. 
Translation  must  be  intelligible,  138. 
Twelve  tables  of  Rome,  234. 
Twenty-third  Psalm,  its  excellence, 

57  ;  mistranslation  of,  58. 
n.  Tim.  iii.l6,  17,  p.  8. 


U. 

Uniformity  of  rendering,  47. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


209 


V. 

Van  Dyck,  Dr.  C.  V.  A.,  263. 
Various  readings  of  Hebrew  text,  64, 

67,  68. 
Versicular  division  of  A.  V.,  17. 
Versions,  ancient,  their  authority,  73 

eq  ,  173. 
Vulgate,  25,  42,  173. 


W. 

Walton's  Polyglot,  26. 

Westcott  and  Hort  on  text  of  N.  T., 

61. 
Wilberforce,  Bishop,  39. 
Wright,  William,  254. 
Wright,  William  Aldis,  254. 


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On  St.  John's  Gospel. 

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Romans,  edited  by  Timothy  Dwight,  LL.D.,  of  Yale. 

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Pulpit  ajtd  Grave. 

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able to  clergymen.    12mo,  360  pp.,  cloih,  $1.50. 

Pulpit  Talks, 

On  Topics  of  the  Time,  including  "Religion  and  Science,"  "'Religion  and 
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Popular  Amusements."  By  J.  H.  Rylance,  D.D.,  Rector  of  St.  Mark's  Cnurch, 
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Prater  and  its  Eemarkable  Answers. 

By  William  W.  PATTO>r,  D.D.  The  20th  edition  of  this  remarkable  book  has 
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"  Among  all  the  books  that  have  come  to  our  notice,  we  are  free  to  say,  the  book 
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"  Many  of  the  statements  it  contains  are  as  incontrovertible  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
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"  The  compilation  of  facts  is  large,  wide  in  its  survey,  ■wonderful  in  its  results. "— 
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"  Tlie  best  contribution  to  the  Uterature  of  prayer.  We  heartily  commend  It."— 
Interior,  Chicago. 

"  The  book  is  adapted  to  confirm  the  faith  of  Christians  who  have  been  troubled  by 
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"  Dr  Patton  conducts  an  argument  with  such  signal  abilltv,  he  reasons  so  clearly  and 
forcibly,  running  his  lines  of  thought  directly  and  coherently  from  premises  to  con- 
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logic."— C/iicapo  Tribune. 

Praise  Songs  of  Israel. 

a  New  Rendering  of  the  Book  of  Psalms.    By  John  De  Witt,  D.D.,  of  the 
Theological  Seminary,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  and  Member  of  the  American  Old 
Testament  Revision  Company.     Large  octavo;  Elegant  style,  with  chaste 
adornments.    Price,  $2.00. 
A  work  of  rare  literary  ability  and  artistic  beauty,  as  the  testimonials  of  some  of  our 
most  distinguished  scholars  and  critics  declare. 
Puskt's  Commentary  on  the  jMinor  Prophets. 

The  entire  work  in  2  vols.    Cloth,  $3.00  each.    (In  press.) 
Puset's  "Daniel  the  Prophet." 
1  vol.,  cloth,  $3.00.    (In  preparation.) 
These  commentaries  have  received  most  extraordinary  commendations, 
"  His  Commentaries  are  of  a  rare  order  in  minghng  the  results  of  the  highest  scholar- 
ship with  the  unction  of  the  deepest  spirituality .    His  '  Daniel '  is  far  beyond  any  other 
commentary  ever  written  on  that  prophet.    In  the  '  Minor  Prophets'  he  has  shown  the 
Bame  careful,  scholarly  treatment  and  the  same  devout  spirit.    This  work  is  rich  In 
spiritual  thought,  and  must  prove  abundantly  suggestive  to  every  thoughtful  reader."- 
Moicard  Crosby,  D.D. 

"  I  am  gratified  to  learn  that  you  intend  to  bring  out  an  American  reprint  of  Pusey's 
Minor  Proptiets.  which  is  the  most  learned,  able  and  instructive  commentary  on  that 
portion  of  Scripture,  that  has  been  produced  in  Great  Britain."— Pro/".  Henry  Green, 
Princeton  Seminary. 

"  It  gives  me  a  heartfelt  joy  to  learn  of  your  design  to  republish  Dr.  Pusey's  Minor 
Prophets  If  ever  there  was  profound  learning  combined  with  the  spirit  of  '  the  little 
child,' enlisted  in  the  task  of  old  Testament  exposition,  we  see  It  here.  I  cannot  al- 
ways accept  the  Doctor's  solution  of  knotty  points,  but  I  tremble  to  compare  my  own 
questionings  with  his  entire  self-surrender  to  what  seems  to  him  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit.  Such  critical  skill  and  such  humanity  are  rarely  combined.— .Bii'/io^  A.  Cleve- 
land Coxe,  Buffalo,  X.  Y. 

•'  I  consider  Dr.  Pusey's  Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets  to  be  a  most  valuable 
work;  I  have  studied  it  with  great  profit  and  much  pleasure  and  benefit,  and  I  am  most 
happy  to  hear  that  an  American  edition  is  about  to  be  published."— J/orpan  Dix,  D.D.^ 
JVeiv  York. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  propose  to  republish  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  Pusey's 
Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets  It  Is  the  best  exposition  known  to  me  of  that 
section  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Pusey's  Hebrew  scholarship  was  undoubted:  his 
learning  was  extensive;  his  acquaintance  particularly  with  patristic  literature,  was 
Yery  large,  and  his  heart  was  especially  devout.    His  well-known  church  views  do  not 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  FUXK  (6  WAONALLS,  NEW  YORK. 

obtrude  themselves,  and  alike  In  his  comments  on  Daniel  and  the  Minor  Trophots  ho 
seems  to  nie  to  be  on  lils  knees  as  he  studies— seeking  only  t.)  know  CJud's  mcauliiK  and 
desiring  only  to  do  God's  will.  I  haveyunc  tin-miuh  his  Daniel  chapter  by  cliaincr— 
wondering  even  more  at  the  reverence  r^^-^nat  the  learning  of  the  expositor."— (I'm. 
M.  Taylor,  D.D.,  JS'ew  York. 

"  Dr.  Pusey's  'Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets'  will  certainly  be  an  Interesting 
and  valuable  addition  to  your  list  of  publications."— P/tj7/i>,<  Brooks,  U.I).,  Boston. 

"  The  republication  of  Dr.  Pusey's  Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets  Is  much  to 
be  desired.  A  work  of  such  rare  scholarship,  judgment  and  devntlonal  spirit  ought  to 
be  far  more  "Widely  known  In  this  country.  1  am  glad  to  hear  that  a  New  York  houso 
has  undertaken  the  repriut."—5tj/to/;  i-^  L).  numiiujcon,  of  Central  New  York. 

Kevised  Nkw  Testament.     (Teacher's  Edition.) 

Witii  New  Index  and  Concordanco,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  Maps,  Parellel 
Passages,  and  many  other  Indispensable  Helps.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

Bevisees'  English. 

A  spicy  criticism  on  the  English  of  the  Eevisers  of  the  New  Testament.    By 
Key.  Geo.  Washington  Moon,  England.    I'imo,  cloth,  75  cents. 

KOCK  THAT  IS  HiGHEK  THAN  I. 

A  beautiful  gilt  book  suitable  at  all  seasons.    By  Rev.  John  Edgae  Johnson. 
8vo.  cloth,  75  cents. 

EOME  IN   AlMERICA. 

By  Justin  Fulton,  D.D.    12mo,  paper,  30  cents;  cloth,  75  cents. 
Sabbath  for  Man,  The, 

With  special  reference  to  the  rights  of  Workingmen,  based  on  Scripture,  and  a 

Symposium  of  Corre.'ipon  /ence  with  more  than  250  representative  Men  of  all 

Nations  and  Denominations.    By  Rev.  Wilbur  F.  Crafts.    Large  12mo,  $1.50. 

The  author  has  gathered  an  immense  amount  of  Information  from  all  parts  of  the 

world  bearing  on  the  present  state  of  Sabbath  observance,  existing  Sabbath  laws,  the 

views  of  leading  men  in  reference  to  the  Sabbath,  and  a  full  bibliography  of  Sabbath 

literature.    It  is  a  book  that  ought  to  find  its  way  into  every  family  circle  in  the  land. 

Schaff-Heezog  Encyclopedia  of  Eeligious  Kno^t^edge; 

or,  Dictionary  of  Biblical,  Historical,  Doctrinal  and  Practical  Theology.   Based 

on  the  Real-Encyklopiidie  of  Herzog,  Pitt   and  HaucU.     Edited  by  PnitiP 

SCHAFF,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  assisted  by 

Rev.  t^AMUEL  Jackson,  M.A.,  and  Rev.  D.  S.  Schaff.    Complete  in  3  volumes. 

Royal  8vo,  2,5  0  pp.,  cloth,  each  $6.00;  sheep,  $7.50;  half  morocco,  $0.U0;  full 

morocco,  gilt,  $12.00. 

•'  It  Is  worthy  of  its  name,  contains  the  matter  of  the  great  German  work  In  which 

we  Americans  are  interested,  with  many  new  contributions  from  the  most, competent 

specialists  among  ourselves.    It  will  be  of  great  and  lasting  value  to  editors,  students, 

professors  and  clergymen,  "—./o/ni  IJ'^ll,  D.D.,  New  York. 

"  The  articles  are  concise,  yet  full.  The  volume  Is  a  mine  of  fresh  and  Interesting 
Information  on  all  Scriptural  and  ecclesiastical  matters  in  which  He  pure  mu/i/ets  ready 
for  t'e  hand  of  the  seeker.  The  work  furnishes  ample  proof  of  laborious  carefulness 
and  vigilant  accuracy."— IF.  Onniston,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

"  The  Schaflf-Herzog  is  the  very  best  Encyclopedia  published  In  any  language.  For 
variety,  amplitude  and  exactness  of  useful  information  In  the  branches  of  knowledge 
covered  by  it,  I  am  acquainted  with  no  work  that  equals  it."—Frof.  Roswell  V.  Hitch- 
cock, V.I).,  New  York. 

"  It  Is  certain  that  this  Encyclopaedia  will  fill  a  place  In  our  Theological  Literature  in 
which,  for  a  long  time,  it  will  have  no  rival."— Pro/".  A.  A.  Hodge,  V.D.,  Princeton  llieo. 
Seminary. 

"  Dr.  Schaff's  '  Religious  Encyclopaedia'  may  well  be  called  the  joint  product  of  the 
scholarship  of  the  world.  It  is  the  result  not  solely  of  any  one  thinker  or  one  class  of 
thinkers,  but  of  scholars  and  schools  widely  diversified  in  their  intellectual  habits  and 


tastes.  It  not  only  deserves  to  form  a  part  of  every  good  library  for  students  of  general 
minently  valuable  as  forming  In  itself  a  comi)act  theological 
library,"— i'7of.  Edward  A.  Park,  D.D. 


literature,  but  it  is  pre-eminentlv 


"I  have  long  been  acquainted  with  the  original  work  of  Herzog,  which  In  scientific 
structure  and  profound  learning  has  held  the  first  place  among  works  of  its  kind.  1  he 
present  edition,  to  which  Dr.  Schaff's  accomplished  supervision  adds  so  nmch  worth, 
Is  invaluable. "— Jk/i'wa- /i.  Seelye,  Amherst  College. 

"  I  am  delighted  with  the  •  Religious  Encyclopaedia '  edited  by  Dr.  Schaff,  who  has 
certainly  enriched  our  American  libraries  with  a  greater  store  of  ripe  sacred  knowl- 
edge than  any  other  living  scholar.  This  encyclopaedia  is  Invaluable  for  scope  of  sub- 
jects,  for  richness  of  knowledge,  and  for  general  reUableness  of  judgment.  —Hev. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher . 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  FUXK  <&  WAGXALLS,  NEW  YORK. 

Staes  and  Constellations. 

By  Royal  Hill.  A  v^ry  ingenious  and  simple  chart  by  which  any  one  can 
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paper,  Uo,  with  2  charts  and  14  cuts,  price  $1.00. 

This  work  is  something  wholly  new.  It  will  supply  a  long  felt  want  in  every  school. 
Academy  and  College.  Every  student  or  scholar  will  find  it  a  valuable  acquisition  in 
his  libraiy. 

Every  constellation  in  the  Zodiac  is  delineated  with  remarkable  accuracy  in  white  and 
black  cuts.  These  Zodiacal  cuts  also  show  the  relative  size  and  exact  position  of  each 
star  visible  to  the  naked  eye ;  and  the  exact  oath  of  the  sun  is  given  so  that  any  one 
can  instantly  give  the  precise  location  of  the  sun  for  any  day  in  the  year  with  absolute 
ctrtaiitty. 

This  work  gives  an  interesting  description  of  everv  conspicious  object  in  the 
heavens,  excluding  the  planets.  And  a  system  of  indexes  affords  every  facility  to 
make  the  book  the  more  practical  and  convenient  than  any  work  on  the  stars. 

Stoeies  in  Khtme  for  Holiday  Teme. 

By  Edward  Jewitt  Wheeler.  With  29  illustrations  by  Walter  Satterlee.  A 
holiday  book  for  joung  readers.     $1.75. 

"Quiteabove  the  average. "—iV.  Y.  Nation. 

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"  The  '  Boy  to  the  Schoolmaster  '  is  worthy  of  Dr.  Holmes."— TAe  American. 

«•  Mr.  Wheeler  ranks  among  the flrstof  writers  of  juvenile  literature. "—^/ftanj/^ueTi- 
ing  Journal. 

Tee  Buntling  Ball. 

A  Gr£eco-American  Play.  A  Keen  Satire  on  New  York  Society.  By  one  of  the 
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12mo,  $1.50;  gilt  edge,  $2.00. 

Opinions  of  the  Press: 

"  It  will  be  enjoyed  immensely  by  every  one."— Globe,  Boston. 

"  A  notable  production ;  the  writer  has  music  in  his  son\."— Post,  Hartford. 

"  Capitally  illustrated ;  one  of  the  most  amusing  of  books."— /'j-es.?,  Philadelphia. 

"■  The  brochure  is  clear,  the  illustrations  of  marked  merit."— Dispatch,  Pittsburgh. 

"  As  asocial  satire,  it  deserves  a  high  place." — Telegram,  New  York. 

"  A  pungent,  rhythmical  burlesque.    It  author  is  no  novice."— inier  Ocean,  Chicago. 

"  Abounds  in  audacious  puns  and  merry  quips  and  sly  io'kes."— Examiner,  New  York. 

"  It  is  graphic  and  X)nngent."— Independent,  New  York. 

"  We  read  it  with  no  little  pleasure."— fleraZd  cC-  Presbyter,  Cincinnati, 

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sarcasm  and  very  peculiar,  reJined  and  original  wit."—  Women's  Journal,  Boston. 

Theology  of  the  Old  Testament. 

By  Dk.  Gust.  Fk.  Oehleb,  late  Professor  Ordinarius  of  Theology  in  Tubingen, 
Leipzig.    This  American  edition  is  edited  by  Prof.  Geo.  E.  Day,  D.D.,  of  Yale 
College.    It  has  been  introduced  as  a  class-book  at  Yale  and  other  seminaries. 
Universally  praised  both  in  Europe  and  America.    1  vol.,  8vo,  cloth,  $3.00. 
"  Oehler's  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament  has  for  a  generation  been  considered  as  at 

the  head  of  all  treatises  on  the  subject— a  subject  which  just  now  has  assumed  unusual 

prominence,  especially  to  those  who  are  persuaded  that  the  Old  Testament  and  the 

New  stand  or  fall  together."— T    W.  Chambers,  D.D. 

The  MENroB. 

By  Alfred  Atees,  author  of  •'  The  Orthoepist,"  "  The  Verbalist,"  etc. 
Luxuriously  bound,  cloth,  $1.00. 

"In  every  respect  one  of  the  most  admirable  books  on  manners  and  manner.  It 
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"  The  Mentor,"  take  it  for  all  in  all,  is  perhaps  the  best  book  of  its  kind  that  has  been 
written  ;  it  is  eminently  sensible,  and  is  wholly  free  from  the  artificialty  and  priggish- 
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into  the  hands  of  young  people  ;  but  while  its  lessons  are  useful  to  both  sexes,  they  are 
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and  consequently  to  make  them  feel  at  ease  and  to  appear  to  advantage  in  society.  '— 
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rUBLWATIOXS  OF  FUXK  d-  WAGNALLS,  NEW  FORK. 

Through  the  Peison  to  the  Throne. 

Illustrations  of  Life  from  the  Biograi-hy  of  Joseph.  By  Eev.  Joseph  S.  Vah 
Dyke.     16mo,  cloth,  254  pp.,  $1.0U. 

Thoughts  of  John  Foster. 

Collated,  arranged  and  indexed.  By  W.  W.  Everts,  D.D.  Price,  cloth,  12mo. 
$1.00. 

The  Treasury  of  David. 

By  Chakles  H.  Spoegeon.  8vo,  C  vols.,  strong  cloth  binding,  $12.00;  sheep, 
llG.50  per  set. 

"Mr.  Spurgeon's  great  "work  on  the  Psalms  la  without  an  equal  as  an  exposition  of 
that  portiun  oi  Scripture.  Euiineatly  practical  in  his  own  teucfilug.  he  lias  collected  in 
these  volumes  tl;e  best  thoughts  of  the  be«t  niiiidson  the  Psalter,  and  especially  of  that 
great  body  loosely  grouped  together  as  the  Puritan  divines.  1  heartily  welcome  thla 
great  work."— J o/t/t  JJalt,  D.D. 

"  The  most  important  and  practical  work  of  the  age  on  the  Psulter  Is  the  •  Treasury 
of  David,'  by  Charles  II.  Spurgeon.  It  is  full  of  the  force  and  genius  of  this  celebrated 
preacher,  and  rich  in  selections  from  the  entire  range  of  literature."— y-'/aVi^/j  tScka^', 

"  I  have  used  Mr.  Spurgeon's  'Treasury  of  David'  for  three  years,  and  found  It 
worthy  of  its  name.     Whoso  goeth  in  there  will  And 'rich  spoils.'  "—T.  L.fuyler.D.D. 

The  Eeaper  and  his  Harvest. 

Giving  the  results  of  the  labors  of  Rev.  E.  P.  Hammond  (Evangelist',  for  the 
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Thirty  Thousand  Thoughts. 

On  all  Subjects;  From  all  Sources.  Authorized  American  Edition.  Edited  by 
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duction by  Vekt  Rev.  Dean  Howon,  D.D.  Complete  in  seven  volumes.  One 
every  three  mo^^ths.    Vols.  I.,  II.,  III.  and IV.  ready,    $3.50  each. 

The  Clew  of  the  Maze; 

or.  Modern  Infidelity  and  How  to  Meet  It.  Toge' her  with  "The  Spare  Half 
Hour."    By  Rev.  C.  H.  Spukgeon.    Paper,  15  cents;  cloth,  75  cents. 

Talks  to  Farmers. 

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the  discoverer  and  first  editor  of  the  Didache. 

The  Peaise  Songs  of  Israel. 

A  new  rendering  of  the  Book  of  Psalms.    By  John  De  Witt,  D.D.,  of  the 
Theological  Seminary,  New  Brunstvick,  N,  J.,  and  member  of  the  American 
Old  Testament  Eevision  Company.    8vo,  cloth,  price,  $1.50. 
A  work  of  rare  literary  ability  and  artistic  beauty,  as  the  testimonials  of  some 

of  our  most  distinguished  scholars  and  critics  declare. 

Dr.  Howard  Crosby  says:  "Dr.  John  De  Witt  has  prepared  a  translation  of 
the  Psalms,  which  is  the  happy  result  of  accurate  scholarship  and  aesthetic  taste. 
The  signification  and  poetry  are  both  preserved.  His  treatment  of  the  Hebrew 
tenses  (as  they  are  called)  relieves  the  text  from  much  obscurity,  and  his  rhyth- 
mical Eaglish  is  in  full  accord  with  the  poetry  of  the  Psalmist.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  this  is  the  best  translation  of  the  Psalms  in  the  English  language.  It 
is  better  than  any  commentary  for  the  general  reader." 

Dr.  T.  W.  Chambers  says  in  the  Christian  Intelligencer:  "The  work  not  only 
does  great  credit  to  the  scholarship  and  taste  of  the  author,  but  promises  to  be 
of  very  great  usefulness.  It  furnishes  the  cheapest,  most  convenient,  and  in  some 
respects  best,  commentary  oa  the  Psalms  which  an  English  reader  can  desire, 
because  it  gathers  up  and  presents  the  results  of  all  criticism  up  to  our  day, 
fused  and  arranged  by  a  vigorous  and  independent  mind,  familiar  witli  the  sub- 
ject and  in  entire  sympathy  with  its  purport  and  aim." 


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